From Orphans to Thieves
by bell.esque
Summary: [AU OOC] [SasuSaku, NaruHina, ShikaIno, NejiTen] It's kill or be killed. Venice isn't a safe place anymore, especially not for sixteen year olds working in presumably dead mafia with a pedophile chasing them down.
1. The Beginning, Promise, & Consequences

From Orphans to Thieves

_**Chapter 1: **_The Beginning, the Promise, and the Consequences

By Kikoru Sijan

**Disclaimer: **I do _not _own Naruto or any of its characters. I don't own The Thief Lord either.

* * *

"Regular speech"

'Thoughts'

'_Sounds'_

"**Inner thoughts"

* * *

**A/N: Yay! I started another story, which will not be a one-shot! Please note that in this story, I changed the inners' thoughts to bolded ones! This is based partially on The Thief Lord. Thank you, and enjoy! And Tenten and Neji are the same age as the others. **CIAO ACTUALLY MEANS HELLO, THOUGH I KNOW PEOPLE THAT SAY THAT FOR BYE! **

**Also, Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, and Tenten are in their PART TWO clothing. Ino, Shikamaru, and Neji are in the clothing BEFORE the chunin exams! Sasuke's clothing is like his in the FIRST MOVIE, except his shirt is black. NOBODY THAT HAS SHORTS! THEY HAVE PANTS INSTEAD! (EXCEPT FOR THE TYPE LIKE SAKURA WEARS. THAT DOESN'T COUNT AS SHORTS) Kakashi is just in his normal clothing.

* * *

**_Four years ago_…

A twelve year old girl sat one of many bridges in Venice, Italy, one midnight, crying her eyes out. Her pink strands of hair stuck to her face as she continuously wipes her ever flowing tears away. She stifles a sob. The streets are not crowded like in the mornings and afternoons. Who knows what could be lurking out there?

"Hey, what's wrong?" the girl heard a voice call in fluent Italian. Her green eyes looked up to meet a boy about her age. His dark eyes looked a bit intimidating, but something seemed to soothe her about him. She was expecting to see an Italian boy, but he seemed more Asian to her. He wore a long sleeved blue shirt and a light jacket with some dark pants.

"M-my okaa-san and otou-" the girl started, realizing she was speaking Japanese. "Sorry, I forgot Italian for a bit." The boy just shrugged and gave a small smile.

"I'm Japanese, too. Just talk in Japanese if it's easier." She smiled. "So, what's your name? I'm Uchiha Sasuke."

"Haruno Sakura." Sakura instantly felt better, though it couldn't cover all her sorrow. "My parents died a few days ago, and they tried to take me to an orphanage, but I ran away. I didn't want to go…" The boy smirked.

"Same thing happened to me. How old are you anyway?"

"Twelve."

"Hm…come with me…I don't know if that perverted bastard might still take you in…he probably will…" Sasuke said half to himself and half to Sakura. Sakura got up, trembling from the cold and scared if she should really trust this boy, but she followed anyway. The only thing that kept her from getting lost was Sasuke's pale skin; everything else on him was dark, including his hair. After many twists and turns through the alleyways Sasuke stopped at a door.

'_Knock'_

'_Knock' _"Hey, dobe, open up!" Shuffling was heard inside and a grumble followed.

"Uhm…coming teme," a voice slurred. Locks being turned were heard.

'_Click' _"Hey, teme…who you got there?" the boy said, rubbing his blue eyes. His Japanese was fluent as well, though he didn't really look it. His blond hair was astray. "Br…get inside and tell us. Kakashi's out tonight. Probably stealing more porn…" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Typical. Come inside, Sakura." The 'dobe' looked up and grinned as the two stepped in.

"Hi, Sakura-chan! I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

'Okay…he's Japanese…'

"Hi…I'm Haruno Sakura." More movement was heard inside. A girl with long brown hair and brown eyes sat up.

"Hm? Who's here, Naruto, Sasuke?"

"Oh, Tenten! Gomen, I woke you up. Somebody new is here! Her name's Haruno Sakura-chan!"

"Really…let me see her," a new voice said from the doorway. Sakura turned to face a man buried in an orange book. He had silver hair, but she could tell he wasn't old, probably in his mid-twenties. A mask covered half his face and one eye. His not covered onyx eye looked at her. "You fit your namesake…"

"Hey! Kakashi, your back!" This woke everyone up in the room.

"Gah! Why'd you wake us up, Naruto?! This is so troublesome," a boy said.

"Shikamaru, calm down," Tenten said. "There has to be a good reason, right Neji?" A boy with long hair and pale eyes nodded. He lit a candle.

"So what is it?!" a girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes questioned. A girl beside her with short dark hair and pale eyes nodded furiously.

"Ino, Hinata, Neji, Tenten, Shikamaru…we have a new orphan. Her name's Haruno Sakura. Say hello, Sakura," Kakashi said. Sakura turned back to them. She waved.

"Hi."

"Can you please introduce yourselves?" Kakashi motioned to Sasuke.

"Fine. I'm Uchiha Sasuke."

"Uzumaki Naruto!" The girl with brown hair and brown eyes went.

"Tenten. I don't know my last name." The boy with long hair went.

"Hyuuga Neji." The girl with short dark hair waved.

"Hyuuga Hinata. We're cousins." The blonde girl went.

'Is she related to Naruto?'

"I'm Yamanaka Ino. And, no, I'm _not_ related to Naruto no baka!" Sakura jumped.

'She read my mind.'

"Yes, I can do that, Sakura!"

"Okay, Shikamaru, your turn," Kakashi said.

"Nara Shikamaru. Now, can we go back to sleep?"

"Well…almost. I'm Hatake Kakashi. I am _not_ any of their legal guardians, and I will not be yours. I just happen to have found a place for you. Every now and then I might check up on you…but if you stay here you must promise one thing, Sakura."

"What?" Sakura asked innocently.

"You must steal for the rest of your life, until you are eighteen. Then you can decide on what to do." Sakura thought for a moment. The people didn't seem bad.

"Okay." Kakashi's eye crinkled from smiling under the mask.

"Haruno Sakura, you are now a part of Shadow Blades. Your partner is Sasuke, he hasn't had one until now. Live your life as a thief until your eighteen. Now, I must go. Ja!" _'Poof' _Kakashi was gone, and Sakura was now a thief. Sasuke grinned.

"Finally, I have a partner."

* * *

_Present_

"Sharingan, you there?" Sakura called through her communicator. The Shadow Blades were all sixteen now. Christmas had just passed, and so did Hinata's birthday; it was the 29 of December. Only two more years left for Hinata. Sakura stopped as the cold water lapped the stone walls and boats floated by in the nearby river. Her pale pink coat swept over, and her hands were pressed over her ear, trying to hear her partner. Her now short pink hair swept over her face.

"Uhm…you got the food, Cherry?" Sasuke's voice called over, using her codename. They only used their real names in private, or unless they were in a dangerous situation and couldn't think straight. They weren't legally allowed to live alone yet, so their names had to be a secret. Sakura looked in her cloak to check. She grinned.

"Yep. How much money did you manage to get_ this_ time?" Sakura asked, still grinning.

"You know how the girls swoon over me. It was easy…they should scream right about…n-"

"Eek! I lost my money! Thief!" Sakura giggled on the other line.

"You better get going! You and your cockiness!" Sasuke smirked. "Stop smirking!"

"How did you know I was smirking? Well, Cherry, meet you at point A?"

"Uhm…"

"See ya there." Sasuke clicked off. Sakura quickly ran to the cathedral near the square.

'Gotta get there before him!' She stopped at the entrance.

"Yes!" Out of nowhere, Sasuke appeared in his black cloak.

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Too slow, Cherry." Sakura jumped in surprise.

"Ah! Stop scaring me like that, Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke shook his head and chuckled.

"You still jump after _four _years?" Sakura puffed her cheeks out.

"Well, you come out of nowhere! Your _way_ too fast!...So how much did you get?" Sasuke smirked and dug in his cloak. He pulled out a pouch and opened it. Sakura found many euros. 10 000 to be exact. She mock glared at Sasuke.

"Did you flirt with those rich snobs _again_? And they still didn't figure out _you're_ the thief." Sasuke shrugged before smirking, an evil glint in his eye. He put one hand on the wall Sakura was leaning on and got close to her face, causing her to blush.

"But you know that I don't love anyone but _you_, Cherry." Sakura felt his breath on her face and his finger on her forehead.

"Argh! Sasuke-kun, stop torturing me!" Sasuke grinned and got off of the wall.

"It's so fun to tease you." Sakura's eye twitched in annoyance.

"I'm gonna kill you when we get back home. I might have now but that'd cause a scene."

"Aa…so what food did you get this time?" Sasuke asked, closing one eye. Sakura shuffled through her cloak. She pulled out some bread, butter, a slice of ham, and lettuce. Then Sasuke rolled his eyes. She grinned.

"I'm not done!" She dug through and pulled out a clear bag of tomatoes. Sasuke was reached out to grab some but she pulled them back, waving a finger. He scowled. "Nope. You don't get some until the others get! Le-"

"HINATA-CHYAAAN! MEET AT POINT A!" Sakura sighed.

"That dobe…" Sasuke growled. "It's a wonder how he never blows his cover."

"Probably cause nobody understands what he's saying in Japanese…Good thing Naruto didn't bring his communicator today…" Sakura said. "That would've caused some ear damage."

"Probably…" Sasuke said. "We better go before the dobe finds us." Sakura nodded. They jumped through the rooftops and reached their home, an abandoned house that was still in good condition. They scanned around to see if anyone was near, and Sasuke turned his sharingan on to make sure.

"Clear." Sakura unlocked the green door.

'_Click'_ "Anyone of you home?" Sakura called as heat flooded Sasuke and herself.

'Thank god the heating and water still works.'

"Hai!" Tenten yelled in reply. "Come to the kitchen! Neji and I have got some stuff!" Sakura laughed.

"Don't we always get something?" the rose haired maiden exclaimed. Tenten's laughter was heard. The two at the door slipped off their shoes. When halfway down the hallway, Naruto and Hinata burst in. Well, Naruto did at least.

"OHAYO!" It was nine in the morning, so it probably was still a bit appropriate. Naruto hung up his orange cloak while Hinata kept her light blue one on.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun, I'm fine. Anyway, it's a bit cold." Hinata usually stuttered, but she got used to the other seven and Kakashi, so she spoke normally.

"Hey, guys, let's go to the kitchen. Ino and Shikamaru should be back so-" Sakura started as the door burst open once again. Ino smiled and Shikamaru followed closely behind. Ino kept her lavender cloak on, and Shikamaru kept his brown one. Sakura turned to Sasuke. "Have you noticed that we're always getting cut off?" she whispered. Sasuke shrugged.

"I guess…"

"Ciao everyone!" Ino said in her fluent, sing-song Italian. "Let's go to the kitchen!" Everyone walked to the kitchen to see Tenten boiling some vegetables and Neji counting the money he stole. They were still in their cloaks, Tenten's green and Neji's white. All the girls were assigned to steal food this month, and the guys were assigned for money. This would switch each month and so on, but the girls always cooked and the guys always counted money.

"Hyuuga, I bet I got more than you this time," Sasuke said in Japanese. Neji raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" he finished counting. "Got 8000 this time." Sasuke smirked.

"10 000." Neji's eyes widened.

"Bring it here." Sasuke searched through his black cloak and threw the pouch to him on the table. Neji quickly counted. "You get a lot each day, Uchiha. Those rich girls are so stupid."

"Hn. Not my fault they fall into my trap." Neji smirked.

"I suppose it isn't."

"Tenten, you need any help? I got some ham and bread today. I'll make some sandwiches," Sakura offered.

"Whoa! Grazie! Well, make some would ya? How'd you get ham?! I only managed to snatch a few fruits and beans!" Tenten exclaimed, saying thank you in Italian yet the rest in Japanese.

"Yea, forehead girl! I only got some carrots and potatoes!"

"Sakura-chan, your so good. I managed to get some linguine and milk today." Sakura began to chop some tomatoes.

"Good job, you guys!"

"Kuso, forehead girl, you and Sasuke _always_ get the best catches. That's why on birthdays and holidays you two have to do more than the normal!" Ino exclaimed. Sakura turned around and grinned. Just then a piece of tomato disappeared and Sakura felt a quick peck on her cheek. A muffled, "Love ya!" escaped the person's lips before they ran upstairs. Sakura felt her cheek.

"Uh oh…teme's in trouble…" Naruto whispered to everyone.

"UCHIHA SASUKE!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW DARE YOU KISS ME! GET BACK HERE, DAMMIT!!!!!!!!"

* * *

_Half an hour later_

"Ow…Sakura-_chan_, it was just a joke…" Sasuke said, laughing nervously. Sakura just closed her eyes and ignored him. She bit out of her sandwich. He smirked. "It's not like that was the _first_ time I kissed you." Sakura blushed red.

"You still had no right. I'm not your girlfriend."

"Aa…but your like my sister. Don't forget who brought you here, Sa-ku-ra!" Sasuke said teasingly.

"**He's got a point there…" **inner Sakura said.

'Not you too!'

"Fine, I'm not mad at you anyway…"

"Hn. Uchiha, I don't get how you still live after so many beatings." Sasuke sighed.

"I don't know either…" Sakura glared at him.

"Couldn't you at least die once?" she said. Everyone sweat dropped.

"But, Sakura-chan, without Sasuke-san, you wouldn't have a partner. His speed and…" Hinata didn't want to say the next part, so Ino continued.

"His speed and looks actually help us get a lot of stuff. You two together make the best team!" Ino exclaimed. Sakura sighed in defeat.

"Fine…so how do you like the sandwiches." Everyone nodded in approval. "…And who's cooking tonight?" Hinata raised her hand and gulped down her food.

"You still got enough tomatoes to make some soup with the carrots and potatoes and some tomato sauce for the linguine. I think we can have some leftover ham, too." Naruto brightened.

"Wow! We have so much tonight…at least the linguine will remind me a _bit _about ramen…Ramen is still better." Sakura smiled.

"I could go steal some instant ramen from the market if you like tomorrow, Naruto," Sakura offered. Naruto smiled, anime tears falling out of his eyes.

"Thank you, Sakura-chyaaan!" He hugged her. Sakura coughed.

"Naruto, your suffocating her," Tenten pointed out. He let go and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Gomen, Sakura-chan."

'_Knock' 'Knock' _"I'll get it," Sakura called as she got up and ran to the door.

"Yo."

"Kakashi! Why are you here? You don't come that often anymore!" Sakura said. "And Hinata's birthday was the last time you came…only a two days ago…"

"Well, Sakura, am I all of a sudden not welcome?" Kakashi asked teasingly. Sakura scowled.

"Seriously…you and Sasuke-kun just _love _to tease me don't you?" Kakashi ruffled the girl's pink hair and stepped in. "Do you want some lunch, Kakashi?" Kakashi's eye crinkled.

"No, it's okay," he replied as he stepped into the kitchen, but his stomach seemed to disobey him and grumbled. Everyone laughed as he grinned sheepishly. "Okay…I guess I'll have something. Whoa. Sakura, you got a _ham_ sandwich. Hard to steal…that butcher is quite fast to act." Sakura grinned.

"We've got skills Kakashi, Sasuke and me." Kakashi nodded.

"It's true, you two do….though maybe the reason Sasuke's so good is because he was blessed with good looks." Sasuke scowled as the other's once again laughed.

"It just might be true, Uchiha."

"Hn. Yea right, Hyuuga. You know I'm faster than all of you." That silenced them all and Sasuke smirked triumphantly. "I see…you _all_ know it's true." By then, everyone finished and were waiting for Kakashi to eat his food.

"Kakashi, want something to drink?" Tenten asked.

"You have any coffee?"

"Uhm…let me go make some." Kakashi looked around.

"Well, this abandoned house is a lot better than that small, abandoned book shop we used to live in."

"Uhm! Kaka-sensei-" Naruto started.

"Cut the sensei Naruto. You know I hate it…you know _very _well."

"Fine, but aren't you glad we got all this stuff!"

"Uhm…Where do you guys sleep anyway? I don't think you ever showed me."

"In the attic so if people happen to come, they won't really think there's anyone there. Anyway, the attic's roomy, and the blankets are really soft and the ground is stable. We don't have a window, so we can use light, and the entrance is in the closet of one of the rooms," Shikamaru explained. "It's not too troublesome to climb either. Not to mention well hidden." Kakashi nodded.

"The coffee's ready!" Tenten said as she brought the mug of brown liquid to Kakashi. "Here's some milk if you want. The sugar's already on the table. We usually drink hot chocolate though…well except for Sasuke…can you believe he _still_ hates sweets?!"

"Grazie…and he still hates them?" Kakashi said, taking a quick sip of his coffee after mixing in some sugar and milk. Everyone nodded.

"Sasuke-teme even drinks coffee _without _the milk and sugar!"

"Whoa! What's wrong with you!" Kakashi exclaimed uncharacteristically. Sasuke shrugged as Sakura sighed.

"That's why he never let's me buy sweets…even on my birthday! Wah! He's so mean…always going, 'Sweets are a waste of money. How do you even like them?' Well then I'm thinking, 'Why the hell do you like tomatoes so much than!'" Sasuke glared.

"Because…their good…"

"And so are sweets! You know it, Sasuke-kun!...Well…maybe you don't, but you can't deny the fact! Who didn't like sweets when they were twelve?!" Nobody raised their hand except Sasuke. He sighed.

"It's not _my_ fault…"

"Whatever. I don't really like sweet stuff now…but I know I liked it when I was little…" Neji admitted. Hinata nodded.

"Remember that time you ate the whole cake your mom made for your sixth birthday?!" Hinata exclaimed. Neji smiled a bit, though remnants of sadness were in his eyes. Everyone felt a bit down; they all missed their homes a bit.

"Well, Kakashi, why'd you really come? You always come for a reason. And anyway, you have to come in two days for new year…" Sakura pointed out.

"I need you all to make a promise…" the mood became serious.

"And what might that be?" Sasuke said, leaning back on his chair, one delicate eyebrow raised.

"…Don't leave each other until every last one of you turns eighteen."

"Why?" Naruto asked, being a bit confused. "Didn't you say that we could just do whatever when we turned eighteen?"

"…Because…they'll get you…"

"And?" Neji asked.

"…They'll kill you."

* * *

A/N: Yay! The first chapter! So I hope you all like it…the chapters will be shorter than in High School Life!: Year 1, but they won't be extremely short! Well, review!

Kikoru x3


	2. The Authorities, Promise, & Konoha

From Orphans to Thieves

_**Chapter 2: **_The Authorities, One More Promise, and Konoha

By Kikoru Sijan

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I do _not _own Naruto or any of its characters. I don't own The Thief Lord either.

"Regular speech"

'Thoughts'

'_Sounds'_

"**Inner thoughts"

* * *

**A/N: Hello! I'm very happy that I had people reading the fanfic! Yays! I'm actually very happy to write this one, though I think it won't be as humorous and light-hearted as High School Life. Okay, I guess I have to major announcements. Just that I'm _not_ going to preview chapters here. I want the suspense for this fanfic. Muahahaha! Sorry, I'm being evil! Beware, there is SasuSaku fluffiness! xD

* * *

_Recap_

"I need you all to make a promise…" the mood became serious.

"And what might that be?" Sasuke said, leaning back on his chair, one delicate eyebrow raised.

"…Don't leave each other until every last one of you turns eighteen."

"Why?" Naruto asked, being a bit confused. "Didn't you say that we could just do whatever when we turned eighteen?"

"…Because…they'll get you…"

"And?" Neji asked.

"…They'll kill you."

_End recap

* * *

_"How could the authorities do this?" Sakura exclaimed angrily, slamming her hands hard on the table.

"Whoa…Sakura, calm down," Sasuke said, pulling her back into the chair. Sakura's face possessed a look of shock and anger.

"They can't do this!" Ino exclaimed with as much anger as Sakura. "I heard they'd take us to the orphanage, but _kill _us?! When did this happen?!" Kakashi sighed.

"I don't really know…I just found out today, so it must have been recently. The authorities are being corrupted by a man named Orochimaru. Rumors say that he's really after Sasuke's sharingan, and he managed to convince the head of authorities to hire him and allow him to track you down, basically capture you. He also convinced them that assassination of any of you would be better for Venice, for after all, you are thieves." The eight's eyes widened and Sakura turned to Sasuke, giving him a very worried look. She got closest to him for the past few years, since they were partners for a long time. Tears began to form in her eyes, so she turned away. Sasuke was shocked beyond belief. Somebody wanted control over _him_. How much more twisted could this get?

"Is he in Venice now?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi shook his head.

"No, but he left some of his subordinates behind. He's in Germany currently, tending to some business. What the authorities don't know is that he is an assassin. He kills for no reason sometimes, just to see blood. I know some people that may be able to help, but I'll only contact them when I'm sure they're after you. For now, don't worry about it too much, just keep alert for anything. Most people in Venice don't know that you guys are the thieves; they just know thieves are out there. Orochimaru provided the authorities with the information of you eight. I have no idea how. I'll be dropping by less frequently, though."

"You'll still come on holidays and birthdays right?" Naruto asked hopefully. Kakashi's black eye crinkled.

"Sure. Well, ja! See you soon! Thanks for the lunch and coffee!" _'Poof' _Kakashi was gone. The eight sat in silence for a moment, before Tenten tried to cheer everyone up again.

"Um…let's think about what we can spend the money on. We might need some new appliances right?"

"Tenten's right. So let's see how much everyone got. Bring out your money, guys," Neji said. Everyone began to make suggestions after the money was counted.

* * *

_A few hours later…_

"How the hell do you and Sasuke debate _this_ long on what to buy?!" Tenten exclaimed.

"Yea! Teme, can't you at least let Sakura win once! You guys are both really good at debating!" Naruto said. Sakura glared at Sasuke before turning away. Sasuke just smirked.

"Looks like I'm still better, Sa-ku-ra!" Everyone sighed. Those two bickered like there was no tomorrow.

"Candy hater," Sakura said.

"Tomato hater."

"I don't hate them, chicken hair!"

"Well you don't love them, Pinky!"

"Asshole." Sakura turned away again. It seemed all the remnants of sadness and worry from an hour ago had disappeared from Sakura.

"Um…could you guys help me with dinner?" Hinata asked. Everyone nodded. Sakura pointed a finger at Sasuke.

"Just don't let him work with the tomatoes!" Everyone else laughed. "What?! I'm dead serious! We won't have any tomato sauce if he does it!"

"Fine, I'll do it then," Tenten said. Hinata began to wash the linguine as the others chopped and washed the vegetables. Dinner was ready soon. There was tomato soup with carrots and potatoes, linguine with some ham and tomato sauce, and some hot chocolate (and black coffee for Sasuke and Neji).

"Itadakimasu!" everyone exclaimed before digging into their food.

* * *

The eight had just finished playing several games of poker in the attic after dinner.

"Ha! I win again!" Sakura exclaimed, extremely happy. The others grumbled.

"You just had luck this night, forehead girl!" Ino said. Sakura grinned.

"I _still_ won!"

"Sakura-chan, that's no fair! Are you cheating?!" Naruto whined.

"How could you accuse _me_ of cheating?!" Sasuke smirked.

"Because…we're all thieves aren't we. We're bound to cheat at _one_ point." Sakura glared.

"I'm gonna kill you one day…just not now," Sakura said, yawning and stretching. "I'm too tired."

"Yea, me too. I think we're all tired. Let's go to sleep," Ino said. Everyone murmured in agreement. The partners would sleep next to each other, since if there was any trouble, they could work together efficiently.

"Good night," Hinata said.

"Night," the others replied. Sakura faced the ceiling of the attic. She closed her green eyes and listened until everyone's breathing was even. She then turned to Sasuke and poked him.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun, you still awake?" Sakura whispered. One of Sasuke's eyes opened halfway.

"Uhm…"

"C-can you promise me something?" Sakura asked, voice trembling.

"Uhm…why are you crying?"

"I-I'm not crying!...Am I?" Sakura said softly. Sasuke's hand wiped a tear away from her cheek.

"See? What's wrong?" Sakura shook her head a little and wiped her tears away.

"I'm s-scared."

"Of what?"

"Of losing you…" Sasuke's eyes widened a bit before they softened and he smiled.

"Don't worry…I won't die in that bastard's hands. All he wants to do is use me…" Sakura nodded. "So…what was the promise that you wanted to make?"

"P-promise me that you won't die…even if you get captured…and we'll stick together no matter what. P-Please?"

"Sure…are you that scared?" Sakura nodded. "Okay then….if I promise will it make you feel better?"

"Uhm."

"Okay then, promise."

"Pinky swear." Sakura stuck out her pinky. Sasuke rolled his eyes but he locked his pinky with hers.

"Pinky swear. Now, go to sleep Sakura…I thought you were tired."

"Okay…just give me a hug so I know your there." Sasuke smirked.

"You love me that much?" Sakura mock glared before half closing her eyes.

"I hate you…"

"Fine, then." He hugged her anyway, though. After a few moments, Sakura's breathing became even, so Sasuke let go, careful not to disturb her sleep.

'To tell you the truth, Sakura, I'm scared too…' With that, Sasuke lowered his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

_The next morning…_

"Hey, Sakura, get up…" Sasuke whispered to his pink haired partner.

"Hm…one more minute…" Sasuke sighed.

"I already gave you an extra minute…come on…"

"Hm…five more minutes," Sakura whined, covering her head with a pillow.

"I'll buy you some sweets…" Sakura's ears perked up as Sasuke smirked.

'Mission accomplished.'

"Okay, fine…you have to, though, okay?"

"Sure…come on…we have to go. We're late. It's been dawn for a while…"

"Why do we have to wake up so early?"

"To get a head start. Now come on." Sakura got up and followed Sasuke down from the attic. At the door she grabbed her pink cloak as Sasuke waited for her in his black one. "Got your communicator?" Sakura dug through her pockets and pulled it out to put on. "Let's go." The two stepped out as the crisp, winter morning air greeted them. There was a light fog all around, but it was thin enough to see through clearly. Sakura was now fully awake. Behind them, the door clicked closed.

"'Kay…so where do we start today, Sasuke-kun?" White flakes began to fall. "Whoa! It's snowing today…so rare in Venice, don't ya think?" Sasuke nodded, enchanted by the snow for a moment.

"We should get moving. Hm…start in the market as usual. I'll probably go to a café nearby…There should be some people to steal from there. I'll buy you something sweet after our mission, okay?" Sasuke said, not forgetting the promise. Sakura smiled brightly and nodded. The two jumped into the fog and made their way to the market. Around three-quarters there, Sasuke split with Sakura.

"Careful not to slip on ice, Cherry," Sasuke called as he left her side. She glared.

"I won't! I'm not as clumsy as before!" Sasuke smirked before he was completely out of sight.

"That asshole…gr…but I hope he's safe…" Sakura said as she ran into the marketplace. Shops were just beginning to open, and the boats were getting ready to take people along the waterways. She sat at the fountain, waiting for the streets to get livelier. The usually busy streets were quiet, and the square only had a few people. The buzz of Christmas was over, though many were still out for New Year. Some tourists were seen 'oohing' and 'ahing' as they passed by monuments and such. Some people were beginning to realize it was snowing, and the amazement became more and more realized.

"Ah! It's snowing!" a man cried in Italian for everyone to hear. People that were too busy at work to realize looked up into the sky and smiled. Snow was definitely a beautiful thing to see in Venice.

"Ne, Sharingan, you hear me?" Sakura said softly through her communicator.

"What is it, Cherry?" Sasuke said after a few moments. "I'm trying to do my job." Sakura laughed.

"Oh, sorry…I'm just so dazzled by the snow…"

"Aa…is that all, Cherry? You should be getting back to work soon. The markets are getting busier…"

"Mm…gomen. Ja! Speak with you later," Sakura said.

"Hn." Sasuke clicked off and sighed. Really, sometimes his partner got distracted so easily. He walked back to the table where two girls were sitting.

"Sorry, girls…I had to speak to one of my friends…" Sasuke said in his smooth Italian. One girl batted her eyelashes with fake teary eyes.

"It wasn't another girl, was it?" Sasuke smirked and put his hand on one of the girl's hands. He swiftly used the other one to grab from the purse, since they seemed too entranced by his dark eyes.

'They fall for me _too_ easily sometimes…'

"Of course not." Both girls sighed in relief. Sakura, who just happened to be passing by after grabbing some things in her cloak, saw this happening. Sakura grinned.

'Hm…I guess I could test how obsessive these people actually _are_ about my _dear_ partner.'

"**Muahahaha, this'll be fun."** In the corner of Sasuke's eye, he saw Sakura with her pink hair walk over.

'What the?'

"Ohayo, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said happily in Japanese, so the two girls wouldn't understand. They looked at Sasuke with confusion in their eyes.

"Who is this?" they both said simultaneously. Sasuke looked at Sakura and mouthed something along the lines of, "What the hell are you doing here?" Sakura just smiled her brightest smile. She turned to the two girls.

"When you ask who somebody is, you really _should_ be more polite. Next time, just try asking the person maybe," Sakura said in the language the two girls could understand, still smiling. They stared at her, awed. One narrowed her eyes.

"Well we just thought that maybe you couldn't speak Italian!" Sakura kept smiling.

"Oh, of course! That's what they all think…but what do you think now? My Italian is completely fluent."

"Why are you here?" one snapped. Sakura shrugged.

"Is it illegal to walk into a café and try to get some breakfast?"

"Urm…Sakura…really what _are _you doing here?" Sasuke hissed lowly. Sakura smiled and mouthed, "Just messing around, Sasu-chan!" Sasuke glared at her.

"I'm just here to see my friend..." Sakura said aloud instead.

"Why don't you just leave than, since he _obviously_ doesn't want you here anymore!" the girl shouted. Sakura turned to her and grinned. She began walking towards the girls, who had their purses on the table.

"I'm really sorry that I interrupted. I really didn't mean to…sorry about my comments and things…it's just kind of a reaction since I've been really lonely since I was little…" The other two girls couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her.

"We're sorry…" Sakura just gave a small smile before she clasped one person's hand with one of her own.

"It's alright…I have to go…See you!" The other two girls stared at her retreating back. One took a handkerchief out and began to wipe some tears in her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell us your friend had such a sad past?" Sasuke just looked at the girls and back to Sakura, who was walking among the crowd. She turned around, waved, grinned, and stuck her tongue out.

'Because I didn't know that this was her act to help her rob you guys…'

"Oh, it was unexpected…and you guys were…debating I suppose…" One girl smiled a real smile; not the flirty type. Sasuke almost felt bad for robbing this person. _Almost_.

"Well, we should get going. It was nice seeing you this morning!" The two girls walked off into the snow, a white umbrella above their heads. When they were far enough, Sasuke spoke into his communicator.

"Damn you! What the hell were you thinking?" Sakura on the other line was heard giggling.

"I was thinking that it would be fun messing with you! I got some money anyway!" Sasuke sighed.

"Whatever…meet at the fountain today…"

"Ha! Got there first!" Sasuke sweat dropped and he jumped the rooftops.

"That's probably because your already there…."

"….How'd you know?" Sasuke smirked.

"I'm psychic, Cherry."

"I am to, so wipe that smirk off your face!"

"See…we're both psychic." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"_Right_." Sasuke chuckled from behind her, and she, once again, jumped. "WHAT THE HE-" Sasuke clasped a hand over her mouth.

"You don't want to make a scene now, Sakura…" Sasuke whispered in her ear. Sakura nodded slowly, feeling his hot breath fan her face. He stood up to his full height again. "Sadly, people are after us…and we have to get back now…Even Naruto knows better than to scream this morning."

"But get me some candy please? You promised, Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke sighed and took out a few coins. He bought a small bag of sweets and tossed them to Sakura.

"There. Can we head back now?" Sakura nodded happily. The two traveled to their home to find everyone at the house, in the dining room already. With Kakashi. Wait, Kakashi?!

"What are you doing here?!" Sakura yelled. Kakashi's face, though, was serious, so Sakura stopped. "Really, what is it?" Kakashi sighed as the others just stared out into space, save Sasuke that is, who was also as confused as Sakura, but stayed impassive.

"You might have to join our organization to be safe…" Kakashi said.

"What organization? You were working for an organization?" Kakashi nodded.

"I never knew that bringing you up would get this hard, when you're so close. Orochimaru...he's manipulating the authorities to an unimaginable extent, and we, as in the organization, believe it is best if you actually join us…We can train you and things like that…though I doubt you really do need training. The organization is called Konoha, and the leader is actually one of Orochimaru's fellow colleagues, Tsunade. Her grandfather founded the organization, and after the assassination of the previous leader, who was her sensei, she took over. The organization is actually Japanese, and has been trying to track down Orochimaru for years. He is, after all, an S-rank criminal in Japan. He fled to Italy, where people did not know him, since Japan decided to keep this criminal unknown to the rest of the world…Konoha, though, is thought to be dead, after Orochimaru killed the former leader in Japan." Sakura's eyes widened and she turned to her friends.

"What? Do _you_ guys want to do this? What is this?!" Sakura screamed, being one to break down easily. The others at the table just stared blankly at her. How did her world get so twisted?!

"Also…all of your parents were in it." This stunned them all completely. "They kept it a secret…they were all loyal and extraordinary agents. That's why I took you all in…Ever wondered why you guys were all _together_? By some fate, you just happened to end up with each other…Orochimaru…he killed them all, one by one. Sasuke, yours were first…Sakura, yours were last. The killing kept going…but you probably weren't aware of what was happening. This happened when the agents had to move to Venice because of a change of headquarters."

"Than why did you take care of us?! WHY?! Why couldn't you be our guardian?! Why couldn't we be legal?! WHY?!" Sakura yelled, sobbing in Sasuke's grip because he had grabbed her to stop her constant trembling. Kakashi looked up at her from his seat in the chair.

"Because…I'm…I'm dead." Sakura stopped crying. She didn't understand. Kakashi was…dead? But how could that be? He was sitting on their dining table, right in front of her. "You all have to understand that because Konoha is believed dead. All their agents are too…They're marked dead, every single one of them. If not, they're MIA, missing in action. That's why I could not be your guardians…I'm not even legally alive…"

"Then why didn't our parents tell us?" Sakura said, speaking no louder than a whisper. She bit her lip, trying to swallow down her sobs. "Why didn't they say anything? Why didn't _you_ say anything until now?"

"They didn't say anything to protect you. They didn't _want_ you to join. It was a dangerous job…I didn't say anything either, until now…it's never been too important for you to know...You all really have to join…Otherwise, you're in a _very_ bad position. You can still live here in this house…it's just you'll be able to contact Konoha if there's any trouble. And we…we can train you…You can go far beyond your current abilities. So far you don't even know it…" Sasuke let go of Sakura, who stopped trembling and had begun to think deeply.

"So…do you guys want to join?" Sasuke said, speaking for the very first time since he entered the house that morning. "Do you guys…think this is right?" After a moment of silence and thought, they all nodded their heads slightly. Kakashi sighed in relief.

"Come with me…" They all stepped out of the door, following the Konoha agent through alleyways. They went through twists and turns that seemed impossible to memorize. Finally, in one alleyway, they stopped at a rusted, iron door. Kakashi took out a key and opened it, with little difficulty. _'Screech'_ All you could hear after entering the hallway was the clicking of shoes. The place was dimly lit by white light, flickering ever so slightly. Kakashi stopped at a wooden door and knocked.

"Uhm…come in," a female voice recited. Kakashi opened the door.

"Tsunade-sama…I've brought them." The blond haired woman looked up, brown eyes scanning each of the eight, examining them. Her pink lips formed in a slight smile.

"They seem much like their parents…" Kakashi nodded. "Thank you for coming. I hope Kakashi has explained most of these things to you. Just fill out these forms one by one, and you should be fine." She handed them each a form that read:

_Name:_

_Date of Birth:_

_Gender:_

_Blood Type:_

_Closest family relations (please specify if deceased):_

_Hair color:_

_Eye color:_

_Occupation (or former):_

_Signature:_

They were each handed pens and quickly scribbled down their information. They each handed it to Tsunade. As she shuffled through the papers, and her brown eyes examined each paper, she stopped at one specific one and raised an eyebrow before laughing a bit. She quickly stopped, her gaze now serious. She turned to face Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Aa…"

"Are you absolutely sure your _brother_ is dead?" Sasuke thought for a moment.

"He wasn't home that day…when they died…" Tsunade grinned with a twinkle in her eyes as Sasuke raised an eyebrow and glared. This was _not_ a laughing matter. Or was it?

"Please come in." A dark eyed man with long raven hair entered, hair tied back in a lose ponytail. He grinned upon seeing Sasuke stare at him in awe.

"Hello, otouto."

"Itachi?...A-aniki?" Itachi grinned.

"Yes, Sasuke, it is I." Sasuke just kept staring at his older brother.

"But aren't you _dead_?"

* * *

A/N: Well, here's the chapter! I don't know if the ending was really much of a cliffy though…well, at least I updated, ne? I finally hit 50 reviews on "High School Life!: Year 1"! Yay! I'm so happy.

Well, review please!

Kikoru x3


	3. Secrets Revealed, Midori, & Training

From Orphans to Thieves

_**Chapter 3: **_Secrets Revealed, Midori, and Training

By Kikoru Sijan

**Disclaimer: **I do _not _own Naruto or any of its characters. I don't own The Thief Lord either.

* * *

"Regular speech"

'Thoughts'

'_Sounds'_

"**Inner thoughts"

* * *

**A/N: Argh! I'm so angry, because I'm starting this _really_ late! Sorry!

* * *

_Recap_

"Are you absolutely sure your _brother_ is dead?" Sasuke thought for a moment.

"He wasn't home that day…when they died…" Tsunade grinned with a twinkle in her eyes as Sasuke raised an eyebrow and glared. This was _not_ a laughing matter. Or was it?

"Please come in." A dark eyed man with long raven hair entered, hair tied back in a lose ponytail. He grinned upon seeing Sasuke stare at him in awe.

"Hello, otouto."

"Itachi?...A-aniki?" Itachi grinned.

"Yes, Sasuke, it is I." Sasuke just kept staring at his older brother.

"But aren't you _dead_?"

_End recap

* * *

_"Um…not _really_?" Itachi said unsurely.

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?!" Sasuke said impatiently.

"Well, you asked if I was dead or not, and how _can_ I be if I'm _standing_ right in front of you. Of course, the documents _say_ I'm dead and all..." Sasuke sighed.

"Where were you that night, Itachi? The night okaa-san and otou-san died." Itachi quickly turned serious.

"They told me to come here."

"Then why did you leave me behind?" Sasuke asked, calm in a scary way.

"They told me not to bring you. That's why you were with Kakashi. You weren't ready," Itachi explained, turning to his little brother's friends, "_All_ of you weren't ready to face the facts or join the organization. That's why we got Kakashi to train you." The eight stared disbelievingly at the older Uchiha brother who grinned. "But now, I suppose you are…now."

"Yes. Thank you, Itachi, for explaining this _without asking_," Tsunade said in a fake cheery voice, whereas Itachi began to laugh nervously, "So…I need you guys to pick a main position, though you all will be sent out on missions, so don't think you'll never be out trying to track someone." Tsunade slid a white sheet of paper with a list of things printed on them. They all took turns reading it, passing it as they went and made their decision.

"Sasuke?" Tsunade said, asking a question. He shrugged.

"Assassination perhaps?" Tsunade smiled and wrote something down on a white sheet of paper.

"You'll be meeting your brother a lot, then," Sasuke glared at this point, "And I suppose the position suits you. All the other past Uchihas seemed to have chosen the same position. Now, Naruto?"

"The same," Naruto stated seriously, the complete opposite of his usual self. Tsunade gave a curt nod and scribbled.

"Shikamaru?"

"…All of them are troublesome." Tsunade sighed.

"Sorry, you already submitted your form."

"Argh…fine, troublesome woman," Shikamaru said, getting Tsunade a bit angry, "Strategies and technology department." Tsunade scribbled something down onto his form.

"Neji?"

"Assassination." Shikamaru scowled.

"Am I the only guy, _not_ in that department?" Tsunade nodded.

"Hinata?"

"T-tracking…"

"Uhm…Tenten?"

"Assassination, though I'd like to be put in the weapons sector for that." Tsunade nodded.

"Ino?"

"Psychology and interrogation." Tsunade raised her eyebrows, but Ino nodded, determined.

"And lastly, Sakura."

"Assassination in the medical sector?" Tsunade grinned and nodded.

"You chose the exact thing I did." Sakura arched an eyebrow.

"Is that so…" Tsunade gave one last nod before standing from her chair and stretching.

"You can still live where you live now, but you will have to report at least three days each week to give or receive some information on Orochimaru and his group's whereabouts. You will also have to report once a day to train for several hours in your department." The group sighed.

"Well, that's life here in Konoha, foolish little brother," Itachi said, patting Sasuke's head. He growled.

"I thought you'd stop calling me that." Itachi chuckled.

"You thought wrong, _foolish_ little brother."

"Hn. Whatever. So when do we start this 'training'?" Tsunade thought for a moment.

"Possibly now…anyway, Orochimaru _is_ after you in particular. He couldn't care less what happened to anyone else, but I suppose it's for the best if all of you start today. Have any of you had breakfast yet?" They shook their heads. Tsunade smiled softly. "You can eat with us than. The food here isn't bad, so no worries."

"Actually, it's delicious, courtesy of you, Tsunade-sama. You managed to force them into getting and cooking _good_ food. How did you do it anyway?" Kakashi remarked. Tsunade's smile turned into a mischievous grin.

"I have my methods, Kakashi…ones that I will not reveal just yet. Now, let's go to breakfast. Everyone else should be finished by now. Itachi, since you've already eaten, why don't you go and help set up some of the training stimulations. When you get there, ask somebody to stay longer. They'll have to show Shikamaru how operate them later. I'll discuss the other's plans later."

Tsunade left the room as the others followed down the dark hallways, with Itachi parting at one turn. Tsunade opened another wooden door, almost identical to the other one. It revealed a large, spacious room with many rectangular dining tables and chairs. Some tables just had benches.

"Midori, can you bring some food out?" A girl about the same age as the others popped her head out of what they assumed was the kitchen. The girl's bright green eyes widened.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama!" The last thing they could see was her short black hair with one strip of light blue. Midori brought out some trays with warm bacon, eggs, and bagels for everyone. "What would you like to drink today? We have coffee, tea, milk, orange juice, and apple juice. Well…sake too, but that's for Tsunade-sama." Everyone ordered what they wanted before the energetic girl ran off, coming back with their drinks.

"Midori, why don't you sit with us today," Tsunade stated calmly, gulping down the shot of sake before pouring more.

"H-hai. Arigatou, Tsunade-sama."

"Guys, this is Mori Midori. She's half Japanese and half Italian, and is actually about the same age as you all. She was living in Japan with us at headquarters, even when her parents were alive. After the 'death' of Konoha, she moved to Italy with us. She's very skilled with a gun, however innocent she looks," Tsunade explained, giving Midori a knowing look.

"Heh…" Midori said, scratching the back of her head sheepishly.

"She also manages the kitchen. A _very_ important member here." Midori blushed.

"Hello, Midori-chan. I'm Haruno Sakura," Sakura said as she began pointing out who was who. "That's Uchiha Sasuke-the one with chicken shaped hair-." Sasuke growled at her description of him, but she ignored. "Tenten-the girl with buns-, Yamanaka Ino-the blonde haired girl-, Hyuuga Hinata-the girl with the pale eyes-, Uzumaki Naruto-the blond boy-, Hyuuga Neji-Hinata's cousin-, and Nara Shikamaru-the one with the pineapple shaped hair." Midori nodded.

"Hello." The others continued to eat with small talk. Or loudly, in the case of the arguing Sakura and Sasuke.

"What the hell?! Sasuke-kun, admit it! Your hair _is_ shaped like a chicken, and after four years, I _know _for a fact it isn't gel!" The others sweat dropped. Something so unimportant and trivial. Midori stared, bewildered by the fact that the kind rosette-haired girl she just spoke to was yelling at the very handsome raven-haired and younger Uchiha.

"Well, at least it's not pink."

"What. Did. You. Say?"

"Are you deaf, too, Sakura? I _do_ recall you could hear from the four years I've been your partner." Sakura twitched.

"Asshole."

"Sakura."

"Bastard."

"Sakura…"

"Cold-hearted jerk with a stick up your ass."

"Sa-ku-ra! Tsunade's trying to tell us where to go……" Sakura snapped out of her name calling and turned to Tsunade with a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Gomen, Tsunade-sama."

"Whatever. Anyway, Sakura and Ino, follow me, since I suppose you're more or less in the medical sector, unless you would like to train first, Sakura. Ino will be staying at headquarters more often, so she won't need too much intensive training. You, however, are an on-battlefield medic. So, what's your choice?"

"I'll go with you and Ino."

"Okay. Hinata, you follow Midori, who is part of the tracking sector as well. The others follow Kakashi to the training stimulations, though only Shikamaru will actually be learning how to work them. The others are going to be fighting them, just to determine your skill level for now. I'm not sure what Kakashi has been teaching you these past years, but I really hope it wasn't the porn Jiraiya writes." Kakashi grinned sheepishly under his mask, taking one hand and waving it up and down.

"Now, I'm not _that_ irresponsible, Tsunade-sama. Have more faith in my teaching abilities." Tsunade chuckled, nodding her head.

"We have to go. Come on….Don't worry about it, Midori. You can just send somebody else to do it later."

* * *

"Tsunade-shishou, what type of training are we going for?" Sakura asked. Tsunade stopped and turned slightly. She looked at Ino.

"Ino, your parents left something for you…including your training course, since they happened to be in the same department. You'll find it when you get there," Tsunade stated. Ino gaped at her as tears began to well up in her eyes. Her parents still cared, even after in inescapable sin of death. Ino quickly wiped her tears away.

"They have also set somebody up to teach you, which I will introduce you to soon. Sakura," Tsunade said, looking at the green eyed girl. She smiled slightly at the teenager before her. "You will be training under me, as did your mother. They wanted me to give you this."

Tsunade pulled out a metal box, rusted with age. She clicked the box open, and sitting on a soft velvet cushion was a necklace. In the middle of the necklace was a blue-green aquamarine, Sakura's birthstone, carved in a cherry blossom. In the center, it was slightly pink. Tsunade smiled kindly when Sakura began to cry.

"They worked very hard with the scientists on trying to find a way to turn the aquamarine to pink. They succeeded, but there was too much work for the whole thing. Take it." With wobbling hands, Sakura took the necklace and put it on herself. She admired the pendant before holding it in her hands, close to her heart. She closed her eyes and thought about her parents. In her mind, a young woman with long pink hair tied in a messy bun with soft, blue eyes appeared with a young man who had dark, messy hair and kind green eyes.

"Arigatou, okaa-san, otou-san," Sakura thanked, reminiscing on the few memories they shared. After a moment of silence for Sakura to send a silent prayer, the girl spoke. "I'm ready, Tsunade-shishou."

* * *

Itachi was looking over as Shikamaru analyzed a man on how to control the training stimulation. Itachi sighed. He couldn't understand half of the language they were using. Apparently, these children, including his "foolish little brother", were actually well educated.

"Itachi-sama, we're done," the man that was helping Shikamaru said. Itachi nodded and dismissed him, since he already held a high rank in the organization. He didn't miss the surprised mumbles of, "This guy's even better then me!" from the man as he walked past. Shikamaru paid no attention to the hysterical laughing from Sasuke's older brother.

'Are they really the troublesome Uchiha brothers? They're hardly alike…well unless Sasuke gets troublesomely flirty.' He watched his friends, Neji, Sasuke, Naruto, and Tenten walk into the blank, white room below through the glass. He pressed the button for the microphone, and began to speak.

"Guys, can you hear me?" Naruto turned around all around as the others faced Shikamaru. Sasuke turned his best friend to the glass. Naruto began jumping up and down, yelling by the looks of it. The other three began to cover their ears. Shikamaru, actually, couldn't hear because the glass was sound-proof.

Sasuke bonked Naruto on the head and told him to shut up, apparently. Shikamaru sighed while Itachi broke into chuckles again. Shikamaru pressed the button.

"Naruto, I can't hear you. The glass is sound-proof. Now, you guys, I'm setting this troublesome thing to level 3 for now, since Tsunade said that you guys are more advanced than one. I can't really say if it's going to be hard, since I haven't seen this myself. Well, good luck." _'Click'_ Shikamaru had pressed the button and the four were warped into the unknown.

"Itachi-san, it's not too hard right?" Itachi shrugged before smirking.

"Definitely not for my little brother." Shikamaru sighed.

'Okay, they're _definately_ related. Uchihas and their troublesome arrogance.'

* * *

Sasuke sighed. They were suddenly in the market, all four of them. They all knew it was fake, but they couldn't help but sense a strange aura among the crowds of people. Tenten pulled out a kunai.

"What's that pattern?" Neji asked, more to himself than anyone else, referring to the threatening presence around them.

Shikamaru's voice crackled through the microphone. "Guys, you are gonna have to do this carefully, no matter how troublesome it seems. You can't kill a innocent civilian, even though this isn't real. It's training so you won't actually kill somebody when it's real thing. They _will_ shriek if you do something weird, like throwing a kunai at their direction because somebody's behind them. I can't say anything after this. You'll have to figure out how to get out of this troublesome thing on your own, though it's really troublesome. And, Sasuke, your brother says, 'Good luck, foolish little brother.'" With that, Shikamaru's voice clicked off. Sasuke growled.

"Oh, and don't make yourself look crazy, otouto!" Itachi's voice sounded. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Byakugan!" Neji's eyes began to show the veins around them.

"Sharingan!" Sasuke's obsidian colored eyes became red with three commas around the pupil. They both scanned the area. "You see where it's coming from, Hyuuga?" Sharingan was more or less used to copy and read moves, though byakugan was more for tracking and searching, so in this case, though Sasuke hated to admit it, Neji, not to mention Hinata, had the advantage. Neji looked around once more.

The crowds of people had normal colored chakra, a normal light blue. Soon, he saw a dark, murky purple, almost black, amongst them, and it wasn't just one person. It was three.

"There," Neji said, pointing to the three. Sasuke deactivated sharingan and saw a girl and two boys, all with dark, sinister eyes, peering at the four. One boy had messy black hair, a smirk plastered on his face. The other boy's head was mostly hidden, minus one eye and his ears. His eyes looked arrogant and observing. Lastly, the girl had black hair, tied in a similar fashion to Neji's. Her eyes glowered with mischief and her grin didn't help lower their suspicions either.

All of a sudden, the girl closed her eyes and smiled. At them. The three began to walk away, and turned in a dark alley.

"I think we should track them," Tenten stated. They ran through the crowd, not wanting to lose sight of the three strangers. They turned into the alleyway.

"Well, well, well. They fell right into the trap," an amused, feminine voice drawled. No doubt it was the girl they saw earlier.

"Let us introduce ourselves," the boy with bandages all over his head said. "I'm Kinuta Dosu. This young lady is Tsuchi Kin. The other is Abumi Zaku. Pleased to meet you." Tenten began repeatedly throwing weapons at them. "Why, quite impolite aren't you?" Tenten growled before initiating another barrage of weapons. Neji joined her, trying to track his movements. He began to lift a metal coated arm, as Neji saw sound waves combined with chakra blast out, into Tenten's direction.

"Tenten!"

* * *

"My, my, what a handsome one we have here," Kin said, referring to Sasuke. He shivered.

'They have some freaky stimulations in here…..' The girl's long fingernails tapped the hard wall beside her. _'Click' 'Click' 'Click' _

"Such a shame that we have to kill you." Sasuke got ready and did quick hand-signs.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" The small fireballs whirled toward Kin's direction, who didn't seem startled at all. She jumped.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, is that all you've got?" Kin taunted. The Uchiha paid no head, and began forming more hand signs. He turned toward her and smirked.

"Nope. Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" A giant fireball flew toward her direction. She had nowhere to go and shrieked as she was burned thouroughly. One more ear-piercing scream echoed from the unexpected kunai hidden in it. Never was the technique used that way. Sasuke was zapped to where Shikamaru and Itachi were.

* * *

"Told you he wouldn't have trouble," Itachi said to Shikamaru, grinning like a madman. Beside him Sasuke smirked. The genius sighed.

"Whatever. You Uchihas and your troublesome arrogance."

"Shikamaru-san, you know it was fast. She didn't even _attack_ yet." Shikamaru sighed.

"How troublesome." This caused the Uchiha brothers to smirk triumphantly at each other.

* * *

Naruto faced this guy. "Urm…what was your name again?" Naruto asked. Great way to make yourself look powerful.

"It's Zaku." Zaku took out his holed hands and blast air pressure out of them, causing Naruto to back up a bit. Another blast was coming.

Naruto jumped, hurling some kunai at this "Zaku." The kunai, though, were ineffective, seeing that they were just blown away. Zaku began to constantly blast Naruto, who was trying to think of something.

'_Ping'_ The idea came to him. He remembered one day, Kakashi was telling him about chakra.

"_Yours, Naruto, is wind-based. You can actually use that to your advantage some day." Kakashi mused to the small group of fourteen year olds._

"_Can we just get on with the __**real**__ training, Kaka-sensei?!" Sakura bonked him on the head._

"_It could help you, Naruto!!!"_ Naruto grinned, glad he had listened. As another blast came toward him, he began swirling the air when it nearly hit him. He squeezed some of his chakra in, and managed to make a swirling, blue ball of energy.

As Zaku kept shooting blasts, not knowing what was happening, Naruto ran closer. Closer. The swirling mass became bigger. "Rasengan!" Zaku flew back and Naruto was teleported to where the Uchiha brothers and Shikamaru stood.

* * *

"Take that, dattebayo!"

"I see you've made it, too, Naruto-kun," Itachi said. Naruto grinned before scanning the room.

"Eh? Where's Tenten and Neji?"

"Still in there," Sasuke replied.

* * *

Tenten gasped as sound waves hit her.

"Ow…" Neji threw a kunai at Dosu, who deflected it.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he helped her get up.

"Yea…I'm fine, Neji." She stood ready. "You have to disable him. All sixty-four points." Neji nodded. "I'll distract." Tenten pulled out a number of miscellaneous weapons and began throwing them. Dosu grinned beneath the white cloth.

"Silly girl. You can't to anything." The weapons deflected, and Tenten paid no mind to his comment and kept throwing. Just then, Dosu felt all his points of chakra being shut down. One by one. Then, Tenten and Neji were teleported.

* * *

Itachi clapped. "Well done, you four, but it'll be harder next time. Let's go check on the others." Shikamaru deactivated the machine and they turned back into the dark halls. At one intersection, they found Hinata and Midori talking heatedly about tracking people.

"Oh, hi, guys!" Midori said cheerfully, waving.

"W-where are you going?" Hinata asked.

"To see Sakura, Ino, and Tsunade," Sasuke replied. They nodded and continued to walk with them.

"Nice job, Sakura. A lot of concentration there. Keep that up. I think that's all for today," they heard Tsunade say from the room. _'Plop'_ "And the fish is still alive!" Sakura's melodic laughter filled the hallway. "Let's go see I-Oh! We're going to Ibiki and Ino now. Eh?! Where's that Kakashi?!" Itachi shrugged.

"I don't know." Midori popped up.

"Oh, Kakashi-san said he was going with Jiraiya-san somewhere…a publisher I think." Tsunade sighed and mumbled something like, "Spreading the ridiculous porn…I'm going to kill them…perverted idiots…" as they walked down the halls.

"You have a strong mind, Ino. Good job for today, and I think you did wonderfully on Akira. He's scared to death of you now," a man's voice said, as Ino and the man laughed.

"I have different methods from yours, Ibiki-sensei, though you taught me a lot that I was able to manipulate." Ino's voice became closer as she opened the door. "Ciao!"

"So, I see you've taught her quite well, Ibiki." Ibiki nodded. "Keep it up."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama."

"Well, you can go home now, you eight…Come back tomorrow after lunch. The training will continue."

"Hai!"

* * *

A/N: Sorry, this is like started SUPER late. xD But I managed to finish didn't I? Well, not much of a cliffy. Sorry if you wanted one! Argh, this took like forever for me!!!!! Whatever…I guess that's all for now. Not much to say…

Kikoru x3


	4. The Banner, New Year's & Disturbance

From Orphans to Thieves

_**Chapter 4: **_The Neon Banner, New Year's, and Disturbed Peace

By Kikoru Sijan

**Disclaimer: **I do _not _own Naruto or any of its characters. I don't own The Thief Lord either.

* * *

"Regular speech"

'Thoughts'

'_Sounds'_

"**Inner thoughts"

* * *

**A/N: Well, sorry this is late! I was kinda busy this week…even though school's over, this will be my last update for three weeks. And check my xanga! It's h t t p / w w w . x a n g a . c o m / k i k o r u c h a n (without the spaces.) You can say something in the Cbox while you're there! One of the sections on my profile has been moved there. You can also see what I'm planning next for size=1 width=100% noshade>_Recap_

"Oh, Kakashi-san said he was going with Jiraiya-san somewhere…a publisher I think." Tsunade sighed and mumbled something like, "Spreading the ridiculous porn…I'm going to kill them…perverted idiots…" as they walked down the halls.

"You have a strong mind, Ino. Good job for today, and I think you did wonderfully on Akira. He's scared to death of you now," a man's voice said, as Ino and the man laughed.

"I have different methods from yours, Ibiki-sensei, though you taught me a lot that I was able to manipulate." Ino's voice became closer as she opened the door. "Ciao!"

"So, I see you've taught her quite well, Ibiki." Ibiki nodded. "Keep it up."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama."

"Well, you can go home now, you eight…Come back tomorrow after lunch. The training will continue."

"Hai!"

_End recap

* * *

_The eight walked home in silence, stunned by the fact that this was happening. They stared at the stone ground, ignoring the festive bustling around.

"That was…awkward…" Sasuke said, surprisingly being the one to break the silence. The others just nodded absentmindedly as they walked through the ground covered with a pure, white sheet.

'_Crunch' 'Crunch'_ Nobody dare say anything after that. Konoha didn't seem like a bad organization, it's just they were exposed to so much unexpected and shocking information at once. They became to overcome with shock to even say a thing.

It was amazing that Sasuke even managed to speak first. _He_ was the one that just found out somebody was after him. _He_ was the one that was the target. _He_ was the one that had a supposedly dead brother, yet he was still the first to utter words.

"Wait, what day is it?" Sakura suddenly asked, snapping her head up from the ground. Naruto looked up.

"December 30…MATTE! TOMORROW'S NEW YEAR'S EVE! DATTEBAYO!!!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping up in the air. He became cheerful and jumpy, causing the others to forget their shock for a moment and laugh. Or snicker, in Sasuke and Neji's cases. "Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan, did you get any ramen?!" Naruto exclaimed. Sakura laughed again.

"Calm down, Naruto. I will tomorrow. No worries," Sakura replied, glancing him a promising look. However, Naruto pouted.

"Aww…Sakura-chyaaan, pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase," Naruto whined dramatically, dropping to his knees, fake anime tears falling. Everyone else sweat dropped.

"When was the last time you had ramen, dobe?" Sasuke asked. Naruto whipped his head towards his "best friend".

"Two weeks ago!" Sasuke smirked.

"Hn. Probably because Hinata was the one that took it." Naruto scowled.

"Whatever, teme…"

"We're home!" Tenten exclaimed.

* * *

_The next day…_

Sasuke blinked his eyes when he felt somebody on top of him.

"Ohayo, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura whispered excitedly. Sasuke began to try to sit up, but scowled.

"Sakura, get off." She giggled lightly.

"Oops, gomen. You weren't waking up." She sat beside him as he stretched a bit. Sasuke noticed that Sakura was already dressed in her cloak in the corner of his eye. "Sasuke-kun, hurry up!" Sakura scolded. Sasuke looked around to see everyone asleep.

"Mmm…what time is it, Sakura?" Sasuke asked sleepily.

"Five already!" Sakura exclaimed. "…But you must be tired from training yesterday…" she added softly. Sasuke nodded.

"Meet me downstairs, and take the transmitters, too."

"Hai!" _'Tap' 'Tap' 'Tap' 'Tap'_ Sasuke listened as the rosette haired girl's light steps faded away. He sighed. Holidays sucked. At least for him. Why did Sakura and _him_ have to do all the work.

"**Because you're most skilled!"** Inner Sasuke commented, smirking arrogantly. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

'Hn.' He put his black cloak on and jumped down the stairs.

"Let's go, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed from the doorway, green eyes glazed with joy.

"Aa." And they were off.

* * *

"What do you have so far?" Sasuke asked as he was walking to the market to buy some extra food.

"Some good stuff. I got more milk and some soda, too. Hm…I have some turkey and ham with broccoli, lettuce, red onion, garlic, beans, chicken, potatoes, tomatoes-"

"Okay, I get it…" Sasuke replied. Sakura scowled on the other line.

"You just wanted to know if there were tomatoes in there. Well, I got sweets, too. And you can't complain, since I stole it." Sasuke chuckled.

"Then can I complain about you stealing?"

"Sasuke-kuuuuuuuuuuun!!!!!" Sakura whined.

"Aa…I'm not deaf, Sakura."

"Did you buy anything yet?"

"…"

"I'll take that as, 'No.'. So, meet by the fountain?"

"Aa." Both headed towards the frozen fountain. When they arrived, Sasuke pulled out a pouch full of 1500 euros.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…we don't need that much…" Sakura said, looking through the pouch. Sasuke shrugged.

"Well, that's what I got. Do you want me to go up and give it back, saying, 'Sorry, I accidentally stole it.'?" Sakura glared before turning back.

"Whatever. I think we should get back to ask the others on what to get. Can we get somebody else to buy the stuff. I'm tired today," Sakura said, not sparing her partner a glance.

"Hn." Sakura knew Sasuke well enough to decipher this Uchiha Language as, "Sure."

* * *

"Sakura-chyaaan!!! Arigatou!!!!!" Naruto exclaimed, giving Sakura great bear hug.

"Ack, Naruto…suffocation," Sakura gasped. Naruto let go.

"Gomen! Arigatou, Hinata-chyaaan!!!" Naruto yelled, now enveloping the red Hinata in a bear hug. "You got so much instant ramen for me!"

"Naruto, I suggest you get off of my cousin. Now," Neji stated in a scarily calm tone. Naruto let go of Hinata and turned to Neji. Overprotective, as usual.

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Urm…I was just hugging her…"

"You were actually suffocating her," Neji shot back.

"…"

"N-neji-niisan, it's o-okay. N-naruto-kun didn't h-hurt m-me…" Hinata said in a small voice. Neji gave his cousin a meaningful look before backing down.

"So, what do you guys want to get?" Ino asked.

'_Knock'_

'_Knock'_

'_Knock'_

"I'll get it," Tenten said, walking to the door. "Kakashi!" The silver haired man grinned beneath his mask.

"Hello, everyone. I think we forgot to inform you that there will be a party at headquarters today…I haven't gone in years…" Kakashi informed them. "You can bring the food you got if you like…"

"Sure! Now, we have extra money to spend!" Sakura exclaimed. Kakashi chuckled.

"I suppose you could think of it that way…"

"Ne, ne, Kaka-sensei! When are we going then?!" Naruto exclaimed. Kakashi shot him a halfhearted glare.

"We can go now. The party doesn't start, however, until about three in the afternoon. Still, you guys need to train. An attack can come anytime…so it's best if you get your training done quickly. Of course, we won't rush you," Kakashi replied, trying to hold his little bit of frustration in.

Shikamaru sighed, slumping down even more into the chair of his. "How troublesome. This sounds a lot like force you me…" Kakashi smiled sheepishly.

"Well, you still have to work out your ways with the other strategists. You haven't met them yet, either, so the party will be a good way to socialize with people from your cell. They could turn out to compliment your techniques and fighting styles later on," Kakashi said. "So, when do you want to go?"

"W-we could g-go now, K-kakashi-san," Hinata stuttered. Kakashi glanced at the others, who nodded in approval. Kakashi's smile became wider.

"Okay, then. Let's go."

* * *

_At Konoha Headquarters…_

As the nine entered, they passed by several staff who were hanging up "Happy New Year" banners, fixing lights, blowing balloons, making fruit punch, etc.

Kakashi turned one lazy eye to Shikamaru. "Shikamaru, you go and help the other technicians with the lights and effects. I think that's what Tsunade wanted you to do when you got here." Shikamaru sighed and his body slumped forward.

"How troublesome…" but he walked off anyway.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" a boy about the same age as the others called from a ladder, where he was trying to adjust a light. Shikamaru raised his hand in greeting.

"Hiroshi."

"Help me out, would you?" The person had messy brown hair and his eyes were a striking green color, not much different from Sakura's jade orbs. Hiroshi seemed to forget that he was adjusting lights one moment later and turned to the other seven of the group.

He flashed them a grin. "Ohayo! I'm Tanaka Hiroshi!" Sakura gave him a kind smile.

"Hello." She once again, went through quick introductions for someone at headquarters. "I believe we have to get going, ne, Kakashi?" Sakura said, turning to the older man and giving him a glare.

'Shit, she's pissed…I think Hiroshi's too much like Naruto…' Kakashi thought. He scratched his head sheepishly.

"Hai, hai. Gomen, Hiroshi."

"It's okay! It's no problem at all…" and the boy continued rambling to Shikamaru as the others walked away.

"Kami-sama, that kid is as annoying as Naruto and Ino when he talks!" Sakura exclaimed, pulling her pink hair.

"Agreed," the others said, in exception of the two blondes.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean, Sakura-chyaaan/forehead girl?!" they exclaimed simultaneously. Sakura shook her head.

"Nothing, nothing, talking idiots…" Sakura mumbled. Luckily for Sakura, they didn't catch the last part, so they stopped with their tantrum.

'_Click' 'Click' 'Click' _Tsunade came running down the hallway, high heeled shoes clanking against the stone floor.

"Kakashi, there you are!" Tsunade exclaimed. She looked at the children and her lips formed a half smile. "I see you've brought them here. Good. Ino, you'll be going with Kakashi to Ibiki's office. Hinata, go find Midori in the kitchen to help her cook, and the others…just try and help out with the decorations and things. Eh? Where's Nara?" Tsunade asked, looking around for Shikamaru.

"I already sent him to help with Hiroshi," Kakashi stated. Tsunade nodded.

"That loudmouth Tanaka…Well, well, get to work, you guys. Ino will be helping Ibiki with some major interrogation."

"What's the case?" Ino asked.

"Somebody stole all the two liter soda bottles for tonight. The beer, too. And the sake!!!!!!" They sweat dropped. That was the major case?

"Urm…Tsunade-shishou, I have some soda in here…" Sakura said, holding up her plastic bag. Tsunade glared.

"But there's no sake."

"O-okay…" Sakura said, not wanting to anger her teacher further.

"Kakashi, take her to Ibiki immediately! He already has narrowed it down to fourteen suspects!" Kakashi shot her an incredulous look.

"Really? That fast?"

"Yes. And I just wish you and the Uchihas joined there, too, but you all just _had _to go to assassination," Tsunade growled sarcastically. "So, take her there. Now!" However, Kakashi was already off, running for his life and dragging Ino with him.

"KAKASHI, I'M PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF WALKING, AND I'D RATHER NOT RISK GETTING RAPED BY YOU!!!" _'Crash'_ It seems Kakashi wasn't able to avoid being severely injured, however. The others sweat dropped. Sure, Kakashi was a pervert, but he wouldn't rape someone.

"Okay…well, you guys, get to work! I'm going to supervise the interrogation…and I think I need to heal Kakashi," Tsunade announced, walking towards the interrogation room. Hinata waved.

"J-ja. I n-need to f-find M-midori-san." The younger Hyuuga ran off into the direction of the cafeteria and kitchen.

"I wonder how we can help…" Tenten mumbled more or less to herself.

"Oh, you guys can set-up some of the food in the cafeteria. They need help with the decorations and placement there…" a voice behind them said. They turned to meet a woman with black wavy hair and red eyes. She smiled kindly at them after taking a quick, silent sip of her coffee.

"Hello, I'm Yuuhi Kurenai. I'm a part of the assassination department, but I usually set up traps and trick the enemy. I don't rarely directly fight. You must be some of those Kakashi was taking care of…" They nodded their heads. "Okay, you guys, head to the cafeteria. I believe one of your friends is already there, Hyuuga Hinata. Am I correct?" They nodded again, and went to the cafeteria. "I'll come with you…Anyway, they really need a lot of help there."

They all walked into the cafeteria. Compared to the halls, the room _definitely_ needed to be decorated. The whole room was white and bare, just as they saw it the other day. The decorations were all piled sloppily on one of the gray tables, and there was an extremely long one with some nonperishable dishes, like fruit salad and chips, on the table. At the end was a neatly folded, light blue tablecloth with a number of colorful swirls on it. Next to it were a pile of paper plates, a cup of forks, spoons, and knives, a pile of wooden chopsticks, and a pile of cups.

There were packets of deflated balloons on another table, ones that still had to be blown. With them was a strip of long, neon-colored banner, reading "Happy New Year!" in Italian. The children cringed at the sight. Who in their right mind would choose neon?

On the same table, there was a bowl of papers. "What's that?" Naruto asked, pointing to the bowl.

"Oh…that's for the raffle. There's another bag with the same numbers, but Tsunade-sama picks out of the bowl to find the winner. The bag is for people to get their tickets, though it's only one per person," Kurenai explained.

"What do you win?" Tenten asked curiously. Kurenai shrugged.

"It's different every year, and nobody has a clue what it is except Tsunade-sama, since she goes and gets it herself. Last year, Jiraiya-sama replaced it with one of his Icha Icha books, and Kakashi won it…" They sweat dropped. "Now, we should get started."

They ended up each doing a different task: Naruto getting the food from the kitchen out, Tenten putting out the tablecloths and balloons, Neji blowing the balloons and tying them to place holders so they wouldn't float up, and Hinata working in the kitchen. (Ino was still interrogating people, and Shikamaru was still doing some lights and effects for the countdown screen.) Sakura and Sasuke?

They were shielding their eyes from the bright, neon colors of the banner. Why?

They were the ones assigned to put it up. Wonderful!

"Dammit! I'm going blind, Sasuke-kun!!!" Sakura yelled, using her arm to block her view of the banner. Sasuke glared.

"Hn. Your not the only one."

"Hai, hai, but your cloak is black! You can barely see through it!" Sakura exclaimed.

'Okay…that's kinda true…'

"Okay, you know what, forget it!" Sakura put her arm down and grabbed the banner from Sasuke. This was going to take a long time, so might as well start now. She climbed a ladder and began pinning the banner up, squinting to try and hide the light. After pinning the section, she sighed in relief, but ended up falling down the ladder. Nice.

When she shut her eyes for the impact, she only felt something soft. "Oh, Kami, am I in heaven?" Sakura said aloud.

"No, you're on top of me. It's the second time, Sakura." Sakura jumped up in surprise.

"Ah! Gomen nasai, Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke got up and dusted himself off.

"Hn. I think I found a solution." Sakura tilted her head to the side.

"What?"

"Sunglasses."

"What ab-oooooooooh……..Kurenai-san, do you have any sunglasses?" Sakura asked. Kurenai, who was watching to make sure the job was done, turned her head and shot Sakura a questioning look. Sakura pointed to the neon banner.

"It's too bright. Can we use some sunglasses?" Kurenai stared and nodded her head, a small smile playing on her crimson lips.

"Sure…ASUMA!!!!!!!!!!!" Kurenai yelled. A man smoking came inside.

"What is it, Kurenai?" Asuma snapped.

"Can you get some sunglasses for these two?"

"Why?-Oh…the banner…" Asuma left and tossed two sunglasses over after he came back.

"Arigatou," Sakura said, giving one pair to Sasuke. They got to work after this, but the others decided to help, since they finished their jobs, except for Hinata, Ino, and Shikamaru. Asuma went to fetch some sunglasses for them too, and in about a half an hour, the banner went across the top part of the room.

"Whew…that was hard work," Sakura commented, wiping the sweat off her forehead and taking off her sunglasses. Just then, colored lights came down, giving the banner a more softening and less blinding look. All the food was out, with small fires below some tin trays to keep the food as warm as possible. Music began to blast, and everyone quickly crowded the room.

"Attention, everyone," Tsunade said, her voice booming throughout the whole room. "We have found the culprit to the missing drinks! Let the New Year's party begin!" It was already seven; they had started a lot later than expected, since everything took a lot longer. Shikamaru and Ino entered, both done with their jobs.

A feast was served and nobody got hungry that night.

"Neji," Tenten said, turning to her partner, who had one eyebrow raised, questioning her silently. She glanced the her red fruit punch, staring at it. A word flashed in her mind.

_Blood._

She quickly shook her head. "Do you think we'll survive…I mean until we're all eighteen?" Neji stared at her before he sighed.

"I…I don't know what to say, Tenten. Even I don't know it…" he admitted, staring at the ceiling, as if he was asking the heavens to tell him, tell him what to say to this girl…

"Never mind…I'm just scared…that's all." Neji raised his eyebrow once again.

"And why are _you_ scared?" he asked. "You're not the one being targeted. The Uchiha is."

"Yes, but…I'm not scared for him…"

"Then who for?"

"Sakura…"

"Why?"

"Be-" Tenten's reply was muffled by the chanting before midnight, the louder ones being the drunk ones.

"FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Everyone cheered, including Tenten, when a blast of colorful light filled the room, beams flashing in every direction. Confetti fell from the ceiling and the music was now at the highest volume, even higher than before. Sake and beer was spilled into the air.

"WE WILL NOW START THE RAFFLE!" a drunk Tsunade exclaimed.

However, the festive mood was disturbed. A lady with dark purple hair ran to the stage, one hand grabbing for the microphone, the other gripping the back of her shoulder. One eye was closed in pain, as she fought hard to stay standing. Beads of sweat rolled down her face as she tried to keep an ear-splitting scream to herself. Her brown eyes showed determination, yet they were filled with something else.

_Fear._

"Orochimaru," the lady yelled. "He's…he's back! He's not in hiding anymore!" And she collapsed onto the stage floor, earning a loud crackle from the speakers.

"Anko!" People that were close to her rushed to her aid. Even Tsunade snapped out from her drunk state and kneeled, looking at her shoulder.

"Mitarashi-san!" Some not that close hesitated, but quickly went over anyway. The eight teens walked over. Finally, Itachi broke out from the crowd, eyes gleaming red with sharingan, looking at his younger brother. The older Uchiha narrowed his eyes, and he uttered few words that told the whole story to Sasuke. The whole story of this purple-haired lady, Mitarashi Anko.

"Don't end up like her."

* * *

A/N: Okay, so I think this fanfic will move faster than the other one. I think I'm only planning a little more than 10 chapters for this fanfic, since I don't think I can really get too far in this plot. Don't know why…

Well, I hope you liked this chapter. This will be my last chapter before my three week hiatus. Visit my xanga or my profile page to get the explanation.

Kikoru x3


	5. Escape, Safety, & the Fortune

From Orphans to Thieves

_**Chapter 5: **_Escape, Temporary Safety, and the Fortune

By Kikoru Sijan

**Disclaimer: **I do _not _own Naruto or any of its characters. I don't own The Thief Lord either.

* * *

"Regular speech"

'Thoughts'

'_Sounds'_

"**Inner thoughts"

* * *

**A/N: Hello, I'm back! Yay (though I'm sorry I'm late)! I just want to share with you all that both my cousin and I believe that Naruto: Shippuden should be called Sasuke. No offence if this is offensive to anyone. xD I'm really sorry if that offended you, but if you think about it, a whole bunch of it is about Sasuke!

Very interesting manga chapter this week! The girl Akatsuki member appears to be quite pretty. Too bad she's evil. xD I just thought the chapter title was a bit misleading, though.

I must make a note that I will be doing slight ItachixHana in this fanfic, due to the fact that one of my dearest readers/reviewers requested it, and I would like to do this for her. Please give this pairing a chance—it's a lot more fun to mess around with, since I'm not making Itachi cold and stuffs. And it's only _slight_. I hope you can tolerate this very uncommon pairing.

* * *

_Recap_

"WE WILL NOW START THE RAFFLE!" a drunk Tsunade exclaimed.

However, the festive mood was disturbed. A lady with dark purple hair ran to the stage, one hand grabbing for the microphone, the other gripping the back of her shoulder. One eye was closed in pain, as she fought hard to stay standing. Beads of sweat rolled down her face as she tried to keep an ear-splitting scream to herself. Her brown eyes showed determination, yet they were filled with something else.

_Fear._

"Orochimaru," the lady yelled. "He's…he's back! He's not in hiding anymore!" And she collapsed onto the stage floor, earning a loud crackle from the speakers.

"Anko!" People that were close to her rushed to her aid. Even Tsunade snapped out from her drunk state and kneeled, looking at her shoulder.

"Mitarashi-san!" Some not that close hesitated, but quickly went over anyway. The eight teens walked over. Finally, Itachi broke out from the crowd, eyes gleaming red with sharingan, looking at his younger brother. The older Uchiha narrowed his eyes, and he uttered few words that told the whole story to Sasuke. The whole story of this purple-haired lady, Mitarashi Anko.

"Don't end up like her."

_End recap

* * *

_After a great amount of screaming, running, and yelling, Konoha headquarters seemed to be as calm as it could be. Most of the medical team quickly dispatched to examine and re-seal Anko's cursed seal. If Orochimaru was around, there was a possibility Anko, actually anyone that had a cursed seal, would be used and possessed by Orochimaru. There was even the possibility that she would die.

"Sasuke." Said Uchiha turned to the source of the voice that was so familiar. The one he heard in his childhood, until one day, it disappeared, only to come back unexpectedly.

"Yes, aniki?" he said as calmly as possible.

His older brother spared him a quick glance, black eyes darkening. "Get out of here—take one person with you. Now," he commanded, voice lined with complete seriousness.

"Why?! What're you guys going to do?" Sasuke asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

Itachi stayed put. "That is not of your concern. _You_ are Orochimaru's target, and the main priority right now is to keep you safe," he replied coolly. "So, right now, we need you to escape.

"We're sending one of our ROOT members with you. We need to have somebody that you know to keep you in check; the guy can get aggravating at times and if he's down—never mind, let's just hope that doesn't happen.

"These orders are from Tsunade-sama, so as a member, you have to obey. I'm sorry, Sasuke, I know you might not want to do this, but that's what you have to do: Run."

_Run, run, run, run._

_((Always for yourself-))_

_What you have to do._

_((No-the only thing you can do))_

_Selfish little boy_

_((Nothing left, nothing left))_

The words echoed in Sasuke's mind until his brother nudged him, bringing him back to reality. "So, who will it be?"

And before he thought about it, the word slipped out. "Sakura." Itachi grinned a bit, despite the situation. Sasuke glared. "She's been my partner for years—she'll know how to work with me."

But Itachi's grin did not falter. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, when will you ever l—"

"ITACHI! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING! YOUR BRIGADE _NEEDS_ YOU NOW!" a lady yelled, popping up from behind Itachi. "THIS IS NO TIME FOR CHIT-CHAT!" Her dark eyes glanced quickly at Sasuke, acknowledging his existence. She pulled at her brown hair, slightly deforming her ponytail.

"How am I going to live?! Kami-sama, it's another Uchiha!" the girl cried.

Itachi scowled. "You don't like me, Hana-chan?" he asked mockingly, an Uchiha smirk appearing very quickly.

The woman named Hana frowned. On each cheek was a red marking that seemed to symbolize something. "Baka," she said, bonking Itachi lightly on the head before turning away. "Of course I don't like you. So what were you doing with your brother?"

"Well," Itachi began. "I was actually giving him _Tsunade-sama's_ directions until you interrupted me." The brunette's hard gaze examined Itachi, trying to see if there were any lies behind this.

She raised an eyebrow and turned to Sasuke. "Is this true?" Itachi began to pray to Kami-sama that Sasuke would say the right answer this time. He didn't want to face the wrath of Inuzuka Hana right now.

"Yes," Sasuke said. Seeing the way she acted, she was probably a lot like Sakura when she was angry. He would spare his brother some injuries this one time. He tried to suppress a smirk when the lady walked away, scolding Itachi lightly and telling him to hurry up. Itachi couldn't help but sigh in relief.

And the smirk finally appeared. "It seems you've made an…acquaintance," Sasuke said, quite amused at this. From what he remembered, Itachi dismissed most girls as annoying.

"Tch," Itachi murmured, "Like you said, just an acquaintance of mine. You better get going now. Sai!"

A boy that looked very much like Sasuke appeared, an empty smile on his face. "Hai, Itachi-sempai!" he said, saluting and bowing to the elder Uchiha.

Itachi nodded slightly. "Please take him to a safer area. He will be taking a girl with him—his partner in fact. I expect you to protect both of them at the cost of your life. Understood?"

Sai saluted and bowed once again. "Hai, Itachi-sempai. I will do everything in my power to do so."

"Sasuke," Itachi said, addressing his brother. "This is Sai. He'll be the ROOT agent that will be helping you to safety. Go find Sakura; I believe she's working with the medics currently, though she's just one of the few that are taking status reports on Anko." Sasuke nodded firmly and rushed to the medical section of Konoha headquarters, with Sai tailing behind.

"For a new agent, you sure know a lot of things," Sai mused. "Including people…" Sasuke's eyes flashed red for a while; this guy probably knew what was happening and who he was, yet he was still able to joke. Sai chuckled, glad that he was able to prove that this was indeed an Uchiha.

"So, who is this Sakura person?" Sai asked, trying to make small talk as they rounded the corner.

Sasuke glared coldly. "None of your business," he spat.

Sai raised his eyebrows. "Is that so? I'll be the one protecting yo—"

"I don't need any help," Sasuke said, stopping for a moment. He turned around to look at Sai. "My brother just decided to do this to me." He turned back around and started running. Both reached a door and found a medic.

"May we please take Haruno Sakura?" Sai asked politely. The medic nodded quickly before calling for the pink-haired girl.

'I wonder what she's like…'

"Hai? What do yo—Sasuke-kun? What are you doing here?" Sakura exclaimed.

"We need to take you somewhere safer with Sasuke-san, as ordered by Tsunade-sama," Sai explained. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "Why me?"

"There are many questions I can answer, and there are many questions I can't. I do not know why Sasuke-san told you in particular to come, but I suppose it's because you've been partners for very long." Sakura nodded.

"Sorry to keep you waiting,…?" Sakura said, pausing to learn the boy's name. He flashed her a quick smile. "Sai."

"Oh, okay. Thank you, Sai-san. Ja!" Sakura called to the medic as they closed the door. They gave a curt nod in return.

Sai sighed. "Can you hurry up, you old hag?" he asked teasingly, but Sakura became angered. Sasuke shook his head. It was going to be a long time before Sakura forgave this guy.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME AN O—" Sakura yelled.

"Sakura, we just have to get out. We'll be in trouble if Tsunade sees us; we're supposed to be gone ASAP, not to mention she works in this department," Sasuke interjected. Sakura cursed under her breath as they began to run to the exit.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked as they entered the cold night air, frost still covering the dark ground. Sai took the lead and ran forwards.

"It won't be too much of a comfortable stop but it'll be safe and warm, that I can assure you," Sai said, leading past a number of churches and private villas. "This area is very protected compared to the rest of Venice, and Konoha happened to find substitute quarters, in case anything bad happened to the main one. Only one person is currently staying there."

"Hold it right there!" a sharp, yet drunken voice called. The three agents stopped almost immediately. In the dim moonlight, a drunken man appeared. His teeth were yellow. The drunkard was dressed in fairly torn clothing. He grinned as two others appeared, not much different in appearance.

"Now what would a pretty lady such as yourself be doing with these two out at night?" the man rasped, stroking Sakura's cheek. She shivered from the contact, but found herself strong enough to reply.

"Nothing that would concern you," she spat, purposely spitting in the man's face. No one, _no one_ messes with Haruno Sakura like that.

"**Shannaro! That'll teach you to keep your hands off of us!" **The man grunted and glared, dark beady eyes showing hatred.

"Get her!" the man yelled to his two comrades.

'_Whosh' _

'_Clink'_

The man turned around to find the other two sprawled on the floor, Sai and Sasuke with kunai at the other two drunkards' necks, smirks on their faces. Panic-stricken, the man turned around trying to run away to meet another kunai pointing right at his face.

"Don't you ever," Sakura hissed. "Touch me—or any other girl as a matter of fact—like that ever again, or I'll skin you alive." The man whimpered slightly, dropping to his knees. Sakura quickly appeared behind him and hit a pressure point before standing up.

"He probably won't remember anything tomorrow," Sakura said, clapping her hands to get rid of some dust. All three put their kunai back. "Anyway, he was drunk." As they walked away, the man got up, obviously still conscious.

"Hey! I'm going to report you to the police!" he cried, running away.

"Shit," Sakura murmured. "I missed by a little. What now?!" Sasuke was already gone, and he appeared in front of the man, sharingan on. Very soon, the man collapsed, unconscious for sure this time. Sasuke caught him and lay him down; he honestly didn't want to be a murderer that night.

"I put him in a mild genjutsu," he said in monotone when he reached the other two. "Now, Sai, where are we going?"

The three continued their escape, not speaking much at all. The only thing that was heard was the light tapping of footsteps against the ice covered stone street.

They had finally arrived next to a river, in the back of a small, abandoned house. Steps led downwards to a small, wooden door. Through the door cracks, yellow light shone through.

'_Knock' _

'_Knock'_ "Yamato, Sai here. a voice answered.

'_Click'_ "What brings you here? Are these new recruits in ROOT? I don't ever remember seeing somebody with pink hair in Konoha since a while back," the man said, scratching his head. "But you guys gotta be cold. Get in, would ya?" Sai smiled.

"Gladly, and let's just hold off the questions for a second." The three stepped into a plain room furnished with a small fireplace and a few blankets and pillows. Some necessities were lying around, such as water. Weapons, scrolls, pen, and paper were on a wooden desk with a simple chair tucked under.

"Just sit on a blanket, they're pretty warm," Yamato said. "Would you like some tea?" he asked, staring at Sakura expectantly.

She gave him a smile and nodded slightly. "Yes, that would be nice." Yamato quickly prepared some tea and brought it over, sipping his own cup.

"So why are you here?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "I can't remember anyone with that hair except the late Haruno Akina." Sakura gave a slow nod.

"That was my mother," she replied, looking down at her tea. "I'm her daughter, Haruno Sakura." Yamato gave a quick 'oh' and turned to Sasuke. He began to examine him while Sasuke stared at him with a glare the whole time. Yamato had to suppress a flinch. Talk about being cold.

"Hm," Yamato hummed. "You look a lot like Itachi—both of you are pretty boys," he commented, making Sasuke twitch slightly. "And you seem to execute the Uchiha death glare just like Mikoto. No doubt that scowl came from Fugaku. Why, you're Uchiha Sasuke!" Yamato exclaimed, acting as if it was the most amazing discovery he had ever made.

"Yes, I am," Sasuke snarled through gritted teeth. Sakura and Sai sweat dropped. It seemed a little obvious.

Yamato grinned. "Would you mind not telling Itachi that I called him a pretty boy?" he asked, causing the younger Uchiha sibling to clench his fists. "He doesn't like it when that happens…Can you show me the sharingan for proof?"

"Fine," Sasuke snapped. His dark eyes turned crimson red after he blinked, the three commas visible in both eyes. He quickly turned it off and glared. "Enough proof yet?" Yamato laughed and dismissed his suspicions of the two people.

"So, why are you three here?" Yamato asked, mostly directing the question to Sai.

"We were ordered to escape from headquarters; it seems that Orochimaru is very near. We got into some minor trouble on the way here, however, they were just drunkards. Uchiha Sasuke is supposedly Orochimaru's next target, so we kinda had to get him safe. Haruno Sakura is with us to accompany him—it seems they know each other well."

"Actually, he kinda saved me after my parents died…" Sakura admitted, moving her tea cup and watching the liquid swirl. Yamato nodded.

"I see…So when do you expect to go back?" Yamato asked. Sai shrugged.

"I guess whenever Tsunade calls back. We can't really do anything then," Sai replied, "So you two better be ready—we may get a call early in the morning."

"We already get up pretty early," Sakura said. "I don't think it'll be much of a problem." Sai smiled.

"That's good. We should get some rest now," he said, turning expectantly to Yamato.

"Just take some blankets," he said carelessly. "They're all the same." He yawned openly. "Buona notte."

* * *

"Old hag, wake up! Your shishou's calling." Sakura groaned before realizing what Sai called her.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?! I BET YOU'RE OLDER THAN ME!" Sakura screamed. Sai blinked.

"I'm actually not sure how old I am, so I'm sorry we can't compare."

"…Sorry."

"No, it's fine." Sakura thought back on the conversation she had with Yamato.

"_Why is Sai so…empty?" _

_Yamato looked up, surprised at the question. "What do you mean—he's always smiling that annoying smile."_

"_But they have no emotion—his eyes seem sightless to feelings. He doesn't exactly…socialize that well either…"_

"_Just don't dwell on it, Sakura. It's…part of Sai's own business, and I'm a bit afraid to tell you now. Give him some time, maybe he'll tell you…"_

"Sakura, hurry up," Sasuke called impatiently from the door, standing next to Sai. "Your getting too slow." Sakura jumped up quickly and thanked the sleepy Yamato.

"Arigatou, Yamato-san!" The three rushed out of the door as the sky began to turn a light blue, the first rays of sunlight coming. They were glad to see no trace of the three drunk men that they were forced to attack last night. Without much trouble, they reached headquarters.

As they entered the main building, many tired agents were still walking swiftly from room to room. Many were moving the New Year's decorations back to the storage rooms, and the festive banners and streamers were taken down from the walls.

"Sakura!"

"Hey, Ino. How's it been? You look really tired—just because you're a piggie doesn't mean you shouldn't rest," Sakura noted worriedly, referring to the bags under Ino's eyes. Ino gave her a small smile.

"Yea, I'm tired—nobody can deny that. Glad you're back safe."

"Sakura, Sasuke, Sai, didn't I tell you to report immediately to my office?" Tsunade exclaimed, tapping her foot impatiently, hands on her hips and one eyebrow raised.

"Eh! Gomen, Tsunade-sama—it was my fault! I—" Ino said, bowing. Tsunade sighed.

"I guess none of the Yamanaka's can stop talking. Inoichi, the Yamanaka legacy continues," Tsunade said dramatically. Ino's face became red out of embarrassment and anger. "Anyway, did you go through any trouble?"

"No, just three drunkards, which Sasuke used the sharingan on so they wouldn't remember what happened. I think he used a mild genjutsu as well," Sai reported. Tsunade nodded.

"Nice move." Sasuke nodded in thanks. "…I guess you should go help your sectors now. ROOT is clearing up the cafeteria and the medics are still taking care of Anko, so Sai and Sakura can go to your areas. Sasuke, your sector has most of the people guarding the building right now, though the technology department already managed to devise a new security plan, courtesy of Shikamaru. It wouldn't exactly be safe for you to help the other assassins in guarding, since you are the target. Go—"

"Sasuke! You finally came back! Help me out, would ya?" Naruto yelled, holding a cardboard box. Tsunade sighed.

"Just go help that blonde idiot."

"Tsunade-obaachan! Look who's talking!" Naruto yelled. Tsunade smiled a bit and walked away, ignoring Naruto's annoyed cries.

"Dobe, what do you need help with?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"Just follow me." They entered a hallway where many people were working.

"Kiba, stop tearing the streamers with Akamaru!" the girl Sasuke recognized as Hana yelled. A boy, probably the one named Kiba, that had similar face markings sighed.

"_Fine._" Itachi glanced around and saw Sasuke and ran to hug him comically.

"Foolish little brother, you are alive! I thought you'd die for sure! Then I'd be the only Uchiha left!" he said, fake tears streaming down his face. Sasuke sweat dropped.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Are you gay or something?" he finally asked, slipping out of his brother's awkward embrace.

"Yea, I was almost sure you'd start sexually harassing him," Hana sneered sarcastically. Itachi quickly hugged Hana.

"Of course not, Hana-chan! You're my favorite," he said softly near her neck, making her blush a bit.

"Get off me, Itachi no baka!" Hana exclaimed. Itachi ran away before Hana could strike him.

"Your bother tends to be a bit strange," a boy with shades remarked. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. It was pretty darn dark in here—who'd wear shades. He let it slide, however.

"I'm sure I already noticed that."

"I'm sure you did."

"What's your name?"

"Excuse my rudeness—I am Aburame Shino." Sasuke nodded, assuming this person knew who he was, which he did.

"Eating ramen is _WAY_ better than playing with a dog!" Naruto argued. Kiba and Akamaru, his dog, growled.

"Well does ramen improve anything?! At least it helps improve are teamwork and agility!" Kiba spat. Naruto stuck his tongue out.

"Of course—it improves your stomach capacity!"

"Dobe, that's gotta be the most retarded thing I've ever heard," Sasuke said.

"I'll get you for that, teme! Just you wait! If I can't, Sakura-chan will anyway!"

* * *

_Later that day_…

Sakura was walking down the street, crossing an alleyway after she did some individual shopping. Someone was allowed to go every month, and it was Sakura's.

As she turned, she saw an old woman cloaked in fine dark purple and gold cloth.

"Segnora, are you not cold?" Sakura asked, ready to take off her cloak. The old woman smile wearily and shook her head.

"Grazie, but this is warmer than you think. Might you want your fortune told? A pretty young woman like yourself should have something to think about," the woman offered. Sakura smiled and shook her head.

"No, it's alright. I don't have enough money to pay, anyway."

The woman laughed. "No, no, dearie. I can tell you have a kind soul—not to mention unique hair," she replied, eyes crinkling from her smiling. She pulled out a crystal ball. "Now, put your hand here for a moment, would you?" Sakura hesitantly obeyed.

'It's not like it'll actually work…'

The woman's eyes widened soon after. "This is how your fortune goes:

_Your life shall not be lost,  
__But there is a greater cost.  
__You will be overcome with fear,  
__All comfort will disappear._

_Loneliness shall engulf thee,  
__But you must set this man free.  
__Until your soul returns,  
__Your head will be filled only with concern._

_Betrayal will be the cause,  
__But your love will destroy all laws.  
__The impossible is the result,  
__But you will be tasting bitter salt._

I'm sorry, but that is what it says. You have a grave future, but I would like you to keep this in mind," the woman said, her warm hand clasping Sakura's.

"This must be a mistake," Sakura began, "It says 'your love', but I don't love anyone. Not like that." The fortune teller sighed.

"I cannot say what this might mean. All I can say is stay strong, and do not let too many things bring you down," the woman said, letting go of Sakura's hand. She gave her a small smile. "Thank you very much." Sakura shook her head.

"No, I should be thanking you," Sakura said as she walked off.

'What a poor, poor girl,' the woman thought. 'I wish you luck on your life's adventure.'

* * *

A/N: I hope the fortune was okay. xD I don't really like it myself. Gah, I can't write them for life. So, I hope you're happy with this:3 Sorry, I might have made Sasuke seem a little insignificant in here. :[ Trust me, I really don't have anything against him! Also, I hope you guys are okay with this slight pairing I inserted.

I don't have much to say, since I said most of it in the beginning. Ja!

Kikoru x3


	6. Allies, Jealousy, & Evil Activity

From Orphans to Thieves

_**Chapter **__**6:**_ More Allies, Jealousy, and Evil Activity

By Kikoru Sijan

**Disclaimer: **I do _not _own Naruto or any of its characters. I don't own The Thief Lord either.

* * *

"Regular speech"

'Thoughts'

'_Sounds'_

"**Inner thoughts"**

* * *

A/N: Sorry for being _super duper_ late with this. I've having some trouble getting this into my schedule, but I'm trying my best. I have so much to do over the summer! Well, I hope you'll like this chapter! I'm sorry, it's nothing special. Some TemaShikaIno! O.o (And slight ShikaIno fluff.) 

By the way, Quiet Moon, I'm around half-way done with your one-shot!

Please note all characters that enter from here are in their part II clothing!

* * *

_Recap_

The woman's eyes widened soon after. "This is how your fortune goes:

_Your life shall not be lost,  
But there is a greater cost.  
You will be overcome with fear,  
All comfort will disappear.  
Loneliness shall engulf thee,  
But you must set this man free.  
Until your soul returns,  
Your head will be filled only with concern.  
Betrayal will be the cause,  
But your love will destroy all laws.  
The impossible is the result,  
But you will be tasting bitter salt._

I'm sorry, but that is what it says. You have a grave future, but I would like you to keep this in mind," the woman said, her warm hand clasping Sakura's.

"This must be a mistake," Sakura began, "It says 'your love', but I don't love anyone. Not like that." The fortune teller sighed.

"I cannot say what this might mean. All I can say is stay strong, and do not let too many things bring you down," the woman said, letting go of Sakura's hand. She gave her a small smile. "Thank you very much." Sakura shook her head.

"No, I should be thanking you," Sakura said as she walked off.

'What a poor, poor girl,' the woman thought. 'I wish you luck on your life's adventure.'

_End recap_

* * *

"Where's Tsunade-shishou? She was complaining about the lunch here, so I got her something," Sakura said, showing a fellow medic a bag with food. 

"Oh, she's somewhere in headquarters, Sakura-san. I assure you of that," the medic replied. Sakura gave a grateful smile, despite what she was thinking.

'That useless bastard!' she thought, running up and down the halls, asking people that passed by. Nobody really knew where Tsunade was—most of them said she went out on some unknown errand. 'But Tsunade-shishou _never_ leaves headquarters!'

"Would you happen to know where Tsunade-shishou is?" Sakura asked a green-clad man. His eyebrows were very thick, and he had a bowl-cut.

"Ah, Tsunade-shishou? You must be Sakura-san! Hello, I am Rock Lee!" the boy exclaimed. Sakura laughed nervously. This guy was getting just a _little_ creepy.

"Um…hello! Can you tell me where she is?" Sakura asked. Lee nodded.

"I believe she was in the kitchen a few moments ago! Please go check there, youthful blossom!" Lee exclaimed. Sakura nodded quickly and ran from the rather…enthusiastic boy. She pushed the kitchen doors open to find a boy around her age who was quite large in size.

"Hello! Is Tsunade-shishou here?" Sakura asked the boy, who was cooking.

"No, Tsunade just left a moment ago," he replied. "Are you Haruno Sakura?" Sakura nodded and smiled.

"I didn't know that I was so popular here. I'm sorry, I don't know who you are," Sakura said.

The boy smiled. "I'm hearing things from Shikamaru about you and your friends. I'm Akimichi Chouji," the boy said, introducing himself. "My family runs the kitchen most of the time, but we go on missions at times. My parents stayed in Japan, though."

Sakura smiled sadly. "You're very lucky to have them," she commented. Chouji was about to complain about how they didn't come to Italy with him until he realized what happened.

"_We…all lost our parents," Shikamaru explained. _

"_You're very lucky to have them."_

Before Chouji could think of a reply, the pink-haired medic walked out of the door.

"You're a very kind-hearted person, Chouji," she said softly before leaving. "I hope we meet again."

"Try her office!" he finally called out, making the girl stop for a moment and give herself a smile.

"Grazie."

* * *

Sakura walked herself quickly to her mentor's office. When she reached the door, she knocked it lightly before hearing a surprisingly alert, 'Come in.' She entered the room to find three others already in there, all of them with narrowed eyes. She laughed nervously and turned back to Tsunade. 

"I brought some lunch for you," she said slowly. Tsunade brightened when Sakura lifted the white bag up and began to place it on her desk.

"Arigatou," she said politely. "Sakura, these are the Sand siblings, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara. This is Haruno Sakura, my pupil in medics. They've transferred from the headquarters in Cairo to assist us with Orochimaru."

Sakura's eyes widened. "There's one in Cairo?!" she exclaimed. The siblings seemed just a little bit offended at this.

"I apologize for her tactlessness. She's a rather new agent, and doesn't exactly know where all the headquarters are," Tsunade said to the siblings. They nodded and continued to face the blonde-haired woman. "Sakura, these are actually the children of the late leader in Cairo's headquarters. Gaara is actually their leader."

Sakura gasped. "I'm so, so, _so_ sorry," she said, bowing several times to them.

"Ah…Sakura, it's fine," Temari said uneasily to the nervous girl.

'Pink hair? How strange…I wonder if it's natural,' Temari thought to herself.

"Sakura, can you go get Shikamaru and Ino to bring Temari around? She's actually the liaison between here and Cairo—well it was with Japan before, but most of us moved here, including me, so she came here instead. She's not familiar with here yet. I need to speak to Gaara and Kankuro about certain matters right now," Tsunade instructed. Sakura nodded and began to leave the room.

'She's kinda pretty,' Kankuro thought as he watched Sakura leave the room to get the two other people as he took one of the two seats across from Tsunade. Gaara took the other, leaving Temari waiting for Sakura to return with her two 'tour guides'.

She leaned on the door and sighed before she heard footsteps going to the door. Tsunade had barely started the conversation when Sakura re-entered with a blonde girl and a dark-haired boy.

"Temari-san, how about we step out," Sakura said, opening the door a little wider so Temari could slip past. "This is I—"

"Wait, Sakura," Temari said. "I have a question. I apologize if this seems rather…rude, but is that your natural hair color?"

Sakura grinned. "Yes, it is. I got it from my mother. As I was saying, this is Ino," she said, pointing to the blonde girl who waved a little, "and this is Shikamaru." Sakura pointed to the boy with half-lidded eyes and a bored look on his face.

"Pineapple head," Temari muttered before she could stop herself. Shikamaru sighed and mumbled, "How troublesome."

"Well, I have to go! I already took too long looking for Tsunade-shishou! Ja!" Sakura said before rushing to the medical section of the building.

"Ah, Temari-san, where do you want to go first?" Ino asked. "The new headquarters here is just a little smaller than the one in Cairo. I heard that one has a lot of security—top notch!"

Temari smiled slightly. "Yes, our security is very good in Cairo. I believe that Orochimaru's been sending his men to bomb us recently, but nothing has been damaged in any bombings yet," she explained. "My brothers and I actually designed some of it."

Ino gasped. "Wow, you guys must be really good!"

Temari nodded proudly. This girl was _definitely_ boosting her ego—I mean making her feel better. Yes, making her feel better in this…new place.

"How troublesome...I actually reorganized the security system here when I came," Shikamaru said lowly. "So much work...no time to watch any clouds." He sighed before staying quiet again.

"How about we go to your section?" Temari said. "Then we can pretty much compare our security, and, maybe, even improve." Shikamaru shrugged.

"Ah, come this way," Ino said softly, feeling a bit left out.

'Temari doesn't seem that bad…'

"_**That**_** bad?! She's stealing **_**our **_**Shika-kun! Our best friend since forever!" **inner Ino argued rather possessively.

Ino scowled as they entered the security room. 'Shut up! That's not true!' She then tuned her inner out.

But she couldn't help but feel jealous when Shikamaru actually stayed alert when showing Temari the maps and floor plans while she offered advice that he gladly took from her.

"You should put some cameras here. Even though you already have a number, I don't think that this angle is covered very well," Temari said. Shikamaru nodded and wrote on the blueprint with a nearby pencil. Ino began to fume, but kept her outward cool.

'NOBODY tells Shika-kun what to do except me!' she thought angrily, clenching her fists unconsciously.

"Temari-san, is there any other area you would like to visit at the moment," Ino asked sweetly. Temari nodded, ignoring the venom in the other blonde's words.

"Sure...perhaps the medical department?" she suggested. Ino nodded and led the group of three.

"Okay, so this is basically where we keep injured agents, though right now we don't have many," Ino explained. "In the next room, people are trying to find cures for illnesses that past agents have died of. See, Sakura's right there."

Inside, Sakura was reading a large textbook with a number of files open on the other side of her. She had latex gloves on as she crushed certain leave's juices or poured certain liquids into a tube. In one tube, there was a dark poison, probably the one she was trying to find a cure to. As things processed and Sakura jotted down notes, she was occasionally call one of the other medics to bring something.

"For a rookie, this girl works hard," Temari said, impressed by the efficiency that Sakura could do things.

"Yep, that's Sakura for you!" Ino exclaimed. "Down the hall should be the psychology department, where I work. We interrogate suspicious people or some agents who have…sorry, this might sound stupid…but we interrogate agents who might have stolen…Tsunade-sama's sake."

Then Temari burst out laughing. "I like that woman—she's very interesting." Ino took this time to observe Shikamaru's stares at Temari.

'STOP OOGLING HER YOU PERVERT!' Ino yelled inside her mind, jealously boiling even more than before.

* * *

_A few hours later..._

"So, Ino, how is Temari-san?" Sakura asked her best friend as they sat in the cafeteria. The sand siblings were sent back to Tsunade's office. Shikamaru had offered to escort Temari himself.

Ino frowned slightly. "She's okay," she snapped quickly. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Seeing the tone of voice you used, she obviously isn't," Sakura said, quite amused at her best friend/rival's antics.

"She stole Shika-kun! He's getting distracted!" Ino hissed angrily. "He was _oogling_ her like a fanboy or something!"

Sakura laughed. "Or maybe somebody's a little jealous?" Sakura said. Ino huffed.

"No way, she can have him," she said, looking away.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, porkie, you just contradicted yourself," Sakura said, wagging her index finger.

"Hmph!"

"Midori-chan, come sit with us!" Sakura exclaimed when she saw the green-eyed girl leave the kitchen, where she was previously working. The girl rushed over, gladly taking a seat beside them.

"Hello, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan!" She had become very familiar with them, and no longer used the more formal suffixes. "What's up?"

Sakura began to snicker evilly. "I'm trying to decide if Ino's jealous—care to help?" she said, not stopping the snickering. Midori laughed.

"Sure, why not!? So who is this person you think Ino-chan's jealous of?" Midori asked in a whisper.

"You know Temari-san?" Sakura asked in reply. Midori nodded.

"She came every so often in the Japanese base."

"Well, that's who she's jealous of!" Sakura exclaimed. Ino flushed with anger.

"Stop acting like I can't hear any of this," she stated in a frustrated manner. "I AM NOT JEALOUS!" she yelled just as Shikamaru entered the room.

"Oi, Ino, stop yelling…troublesome woman," he said, wincing at the loudness.

"URUSAI!" she screamed before stomping out of the room, bumping shoulders with Shikamaru.

The lazy genius walked over to the table she was previously at and began to question the other two girls. "What's up with her today? She has more mood swings than usual," he asked, directing the question mostly to Sakura. "When we meet Temari, she's all happy, and now she's all…troublesome."

Sakura sighed. "I don't really want to say," Sakura stated, "but I suggest you go comfort her or something." Shikamaru mumbled, probably troublesome again.

When the boy left to go look for Ino, Midori's eyebrows furrowed. She looked up at Sakura's green eyes and asked, "Why were you so vague?"

Sakura smiled slightly. "We should let them solve this themselves, ne?" she said, slumping her head onto the table and over her crossed arms. "I'm going to rest a bit, Midori-chan. Today was pretty exhausting." Midori nodded.

"Well, I don't want to be bothering you. Ja, Sakura-chan," she said before walking off.

* * *

Ino ran into a small corner she discovered when they first came. She always thought it was funny that _nobody_, even the agents that were here from the beginning, knew about it. Ino smiled bitterly as she began to sob. 

"What am I thinking? Heh, I'm so used to having everything for myself," she spat at herself. "Wasn't I always spoiled, okaa-san, otou-san. Tch, I won't even let my best friend fall in love."

She continued to let her tears flow freely down her cheeks, hiccupping every once in a while.

"I'm so stupid, aren't I?"

"You might be troublesome, but not stupid." Ino's ears perked up at the sound of that voice and that _word. _

"S-shika-kun?" she said slowly as she lifted her head up. Shikamaru looked at his partner. Her hair was sticking of her tears—wait, tears? She was crying? Her cerulean eyes seemed watery and puffy—yep, she was crying. Her nose and cheeks were pink in color.

Ino sniffled loudly. "What do you want?" she said softly yet coldly. "Aren't you supposed to be with _Temari_?" Her voice was laced with anger. Shikamaru rubbed his temples.

"Is this about _her_?" Shikamaru said, stating it more than asking. "Ino—"

"Wait," she said. "How did you find me? Nobody knows about this place."

Shikamaru shrugged. "I pretty much analyzed the map more after Temari told me—"

"She's so smart," Ino said, sourness evident in her voice. "I bet she'd make a _much_ better partner than me, ne?"

Shikamaru paused. This _really_ wasn't what he was expecting Ino to be angry about. He was lost for words.

"Ino," Shikamaru said as she began to stand up. "That...isn't true. I—"

"Isn't true!" Ino exclaimed. "Lies! Complete lies! You call her by her name more than you say, 'Ino'! Should I _really_ believe this? You've known me for a longer time, but you say her name more than mine! Shikamaru, I can't believe you, not anymore!" Ino began to sob again, falling back to the ground.

"Ino! Listen to me!" Shikamaru yelled. Ino shook her head furiously, trying to hide her tears. "Please," he said in a softer voice. "Please, just listen." He began to embrace Ino lightly, stroking her hair to calm her down.

"Otou-san, otou-san, I'm too spoiled aren't I? I can't get everything I want," Shikamaru heard Ino mumble to herself.

"Ino," Shikamaru paused to see if Ino was listening. It seemed like she was, so he continued. "Well, you can believe what you want, but...you're still the best partner for me. And, I'm saying the truth.

"Ino, I really don't know how to say this but...calling somebody troublesome...is my way of showing affection, I suppose. It's too troublesome to say it directly, you know," Shikamaru explained. Ino stopped hiccupping and relaxed a bit. "So, I guess I really wouldn't want to switch partners. You've been my best friend since…well since we found each other that night. I think you were crying...like right now."

* * *

_A eleven-year old Ino was crying on the street. Her shadow bounced from the flames that had erupted hours ago from her house. _

"_Okaa-san, otou-san, why did you go away?" she whispered sadly. She rubbed her eyes with her small hands and wailed as memories of her parents flashed in her mind._

_Yamanaka Ino had just turned eleven that day. After they had finished cake and walked into the kitchen, it was in flames, oil spilled all over the floor. Ino was ordered to run by her father, who was trying to stop the flames with her mother. _

'_Ino, remember, we love you…' her mother said before pushing Ino out the front door. 'Don't come back, no matter what!'_

_Ino sobbed furiously as the sparks burned her. She watched as the firefighters announced that two bodies were found, dead from a knife in their chests. There were no survivors, or so they thought. _

"_Why are you crying?" Ino looked up to see a boy around her age. _

"_M-my parents died!!!!" she screamed, sobbing in the boy's shirt. Little did she know that the boy was holding back his own tears. _

_He sighed shakily. "So…so did mine." Ino stiffened. "I guess we have to get out of here before anyone finds us."_

_And the two children ran, tears streaming down their faces at their lost parents._

* * *

Ino sighed, starting to remember her parents and that night. 

"I...really wish they were here," she whispered almost inaudibly.

"Me, too. Even if my mother was troublesome," Shikamaru mumbled in response. After a few moments of silence, Shikamaru decided to speak. "Are you better?"

No reply. He looked down to find Ino with her eyes closed, a small smile on her lips. He smiled slightly at her sleeping form. He stood up and picked her up, not even bothering to stretch.

'Better take her to Sakura...'

* * *

Slight shaking woke Sakura up from her nap. She released a small grumble before opening her sleepy green eyes. 

"Ugh...what is it?" she said as she saw a blur. It slowly turned into a recognizable form. Actually, _two_ recognizable forms.

"...Sakura, Ino kinda...fell asleep on me," Shikamaru said. Sakura gasped and began to exclaim, 'Awwww!'

"Sakura, I suggest you go help Shikamaru with Ino." Sakura stared at Sasuke.

"What?! Ino?! Where?! Is she hurt?! Uchiha, Nara, I'll kill you if that's the case," Sakura exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at the two males. They both sweat dropped slightly.

"Um…she's asleep," Shikamaru repeated, holding Ino's up slightly.

'She probably didn't hear me the first time.'

"Oh? That's it?" Sakura exclaimed with surprise. "She's fine then. You want me to wake her up?"

"Please," Shikamaru pleaded. "I've been carrying her for hours."

"Why? It shouldn't take you _that_ long to get around the building," Sakura said.

Sasuke sighed. "One, we had to look for you. Who would've known you were _still_ in the cafeteria?" Sakura laughed nervously. "Much less napping. Two, you're hard to wake up, aren't you?"

"Okay, I'll wake her up," she said. Sakura leaned down towards Ino's ear. "INO-PIG, OH MY GOD! YOU'RE GETTING FATTER THAN EVER!" she yelled into her friend's ear.

"WHAT?! NOOOOOOO!!!!" Ino yelled as she jumped out of Shikamaru's arms. Sakura began to snicker as the two boys began to sweat drop once again.

"Actually, Ino, you're as thin as ever. Should I get some more in the morning?" Sakura asked kindly. Ino was actually thinner and this was starting to concern her.

Ino blinked a few times before smiling brightly. "Well, I've still got room for food, right?" she exclaimed. "Going to ask Chouji to cook something up for me!" She waltzed into the kitchen.

When she left, Sakura slyly whispered to Shikamaru. "So, you sorted things out?" Shikamaru grinned lazily.

"Somewhat," he replied.

* * *

"Dosu, how is the investigation going?" a shadowed figure asked. 

Dosu smiled beneath the white bandages that wrapped around his head. He bowed. "Wonderful, Orochimaru-sama. We shall attack very soon."

Orochimaru grinned, golden snake eyes glowing eerily. "Good...make sure Kin and Zaku are ready for this."

A man pushed his glasses up, which were glinting in the light. "Would you like me to assist them, Orochimaru-sama?"

"Not yet," Orochimaru replied as Dosu walked away. "We'll...test their abilities first. Anyway, I don't want to reunite with Jiraiya and Tsunade-hime just yet."

"But," his subordinate said, "they know we're here. It seems Mitarashi-san gave them a slight warning."

Orochimaru licked his lips. "More pain, wonderful. How long do you think I can last in this body, Kabuto?"

Kabuto grinned, pushing his glasses up again. "I suppose...another two or three months."

Orochimaru grinned. "Then, we'll have to get Sasuke-kun quickly. This won't be too hard."

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto argued, "Not to be disrespectful, but they are not to be underestimated. This is a warning."

"Fine," the long haired man spat as he strode out of the room.

* * *

A/N: Finally! This is so late! I want to point out that there is no OrochimaruxTsunade or any of that sort. He merely called her 'hime' or 'princess' because in the manga/anime, she is the granddaughter of the first hokage. 

Well, the ShikaIno was kinda interesting to write. I hope you'll like it, tennisxdork. I heard you were craving it.

Well, that's all. Sorry if I disappointed you! Ja!

Kikoru x3


	7. Indirect Encounter

From Orphans to Thieves

_**Chapter **__**7: **_Indirect Encounter

By Kikoru Sijan

**Disclaimer: **I do _not _own Naruto or any of its characters. I don't own The Thief Lord either.

* * *

"Regular speech" 

'Thoughts'

'_Sounds'_

"**Inner thoughts"**

* * *

A/N: Hellos! Late again. –sighs- I'm getting too used to this, aren't I? I want to say that, sadly, I probably won't be able to keep up with FF as much during the school year. Sorry about that. Very sad, you knows. I'll try my best though. I'm going to be loaded. _A lot. _You probably won't be seeing anything from me for months. But that's when September comes. Remember, I still love you guys. By the way, this probably won't go on for too many chapters. I'm thinking maybe around 10-13 or so. Maybe even less, but no more than 15 though. I don't know. As for HSL, that's unpredictable, but I have it pretty much planned out.

* * *

_Recap_

"Dosu, how is the investigation going?" a shadowed figure asked.

Dosu smiled beneath the white bandages that wrapped around his head. He bowed. "Wonderful, Orochimaru-sama. We shall attack very soon."

Orochimaru grinned, golden snake eyes glowing eerily. "Good...make sure Kin and Zaku are ready for this."

A man pushed his glasses up, which were glinting in the light. "Would you like me to assist them, Orochimaru-sama?"

"Not yet," Orochimaru replied as Dosu walked away. "We'll...test their abilities first. Anyway, I don't want to reunite with Jiraiya and Tsunade-hime just yet."

"But," his subordinate said, "they know we're here. It seems Mitarashi-san gave them a slight warning."

Orochimaru licked his lips. "More pain, wonderful. How long do you think I can last in this body, Kabuto?"

Kabuto grinned, pushing his glasses up again. "I suppose...another two or three months."

Orochimaru grinned. "Then, we'll have to get Sasuke-kun quickly. This won't be too hard."

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto argued, "Not to be disrespectful, but they are not to be underestimated. This is a warning."

"Fine," the long haired man spat as he strode out of the room.

_End recap_

* * *

"Good job, ototou. Your guys have gotten a lot better—probably better than most agents here," Itachi said as he turned the simulator off, glancing at the progress reports Shikamaru had laid out for him. "Shikamaru-san, you actually did all these." Shikamaru gave him an 'are-you-kidding-me' look before returning to his normal state, causing the older man to chuckle, shuffling at the profiles. 

_Name: Uchiha Sasuke_

_Birthday: July 23_

_Blood Type: AB_

_Occupation: Assassin_

_Primary fighting style: Ninjutsu_

_Progress: January 18 – Has passed level 17 simulation recently. Can effectively use bloodline limit and is rather skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Has become a close-mid range ninjutsu user. Specializing in fire techniques._

_January 14 – Passed level 14. Is able to use powerful eye genjutsu. Is willing to help teammates. _

_January 10 – Passed level 11 with ease. Was fastest out of all others. Did not need ninjutsu._

_January 6 – Passed level 8 in only forty-five seconds. No other significant progress_

_January 2 – Has increased greatly in using weapons and throwing at moving targets. Can move at top speed. Has the ability to use Hatake Kakashi's Chidori (Raikiri) multiple times with no problems. Works well with Uzumaki Naruto and/or Hyuuga Neji. _

_December 29 – Just joined Konoha Headquarters in Venice, Italy. Brought by former 9__th__ ANBU Brigade captain Hatake Kakashi with seven others. Can pass level 3 simulation with almost no trouble._

Itachi grinned at the report. His little brother was getting good, and fast too.

'So, they do a progress report every four days?' he said, throwing the stack back down. Shikamaru nodded lazily, eyes still closed. Itachi watched as his brother and his friends walked out of the room, only panting slightly. Naruto seemed to be yelling happily. When they escaped the sound-proof walls, Itachi heard it.

"RAMEN HERE I COME!" the blond yelled. Itachi smirked. He had learned his brother's best friend, preferably rival, was ramen obsessed. He practically had it for every meal. Itachi had always wondered how the hyperactive assassin-to-be didn't already die from sodium overdose...or something along those lines.

"I'm going to have some lunch, too. Ja, Itachi," Shikamaru said casually as he stood up from his chair and began to stretch on his way out. He held up a hand as a 'good-bye'. "Lock up for me, will ya?"

Itachi nodded. "No problem." When the door closed, he dropped himself onto the comfortable swivel chair and began to look at the sound-proof white room he used to use so much. His lips formed a slight frown.

'You've improved immensely, but is that enough to protect you from Orochimaru?'

* * *

"Tsunade-obaachan really knows which instant ramen to buy!" Naruto exclaimed as he slurped up his sixth bowl of miso pork ramen. 

Sakura lazily flicked a piece of astray, pink-colored hair and gave Naruto a hard stare. "I assure you, ramen is _not_ Tsunade-shishou's favorites," she said in a know-it-all manner. "I bet she got somebody else to buy it. Why don't you go into the kitchen and thank everyone that's there," Sakura remarked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Naruto's blue eyes began to glow as he quickly finished his soup in the bowl and ran into the kitchen. Sakura sweat dropped. "I didn't mean for him to go for real," she said, sighing as she lay her head on her crossed arms.

Sasuke shrugged. "Sakura, you're forgetting it's the dobe we're talking about," he said, smirking slightly. Sakura mock laughed.

"Ha ha, yes it is that idiot. But he can be smart...sometimes," she argued half-heartedly.

"I agree," said Shikamaru, who just took a chunk out of his club sandwich. "He _is _right about the food being good here.

Sakura sighed. "Shikamaru, don't become like Chouji. I don't think Ino would like it anymore," she commented. "She's never liked people that are _too_ overweight. But I suppose Chouji's an exception. He's done something that's made her a better person."

"I'm glad you see that," Ino replied, finished up the last crouton in Caesar salad she had. "But I was always a better person, Sakura. _Much_ better than you."

"I disagree," Sakura argued, an amused smile tugging on her pink lips. "I've always been better. I mean, can _you_ cook?"

Ino flushed and began to mutter after giving out an arrogant, 'Hmph.'

"I thought so," Sakura said, closing her green eyes for some rest.

"You better not fall asleep again," Sasuke said, patting her head in a friendly manner.

"Why?" she whined, the word being muffled by her arms. She was definitely _not_ happy about this.

"Because you and Sasuke-san have a mission today," Hinata said.

"WHAT?!!" Naruto exclaimed. Apparently he had gotten back to the table after grabbing another jumbo-sized bowl of miso pork ramen. "Tsunade-obaachan gave _teme_ a mission?! How come Sakura-chan gets to go too! Sakura-chyaaaaaaaaaaan can I come?!" Naruto had been waiting _forever_ to get a mission, and now two others got it before him.

"Sorry, Naruto," Sakura said apologetically, "You gotta talk to Tsunade-shishou about that. I have nothing to do with it—besides the fact that I'm going on the mission."

"Sakura-chyaan!" Naruto said, bursting into fake tears. "You don't have to be so _mean_ about it! Rubbing it in a poor guy's face."

"Sorry, Naruto, I couldn't help it," Sakura said, lifting her face up fully, showing a bright smile.

Sasuke began to cough violently at the second.

"Hello, ototou! I came to wish you good luck on your first mission!" Itachi exclaimed, nearly choking his younger brother with his embrace, which happened to be on the neck.

"Let go," Sasuke rasped, trying to pry his brother off of him. "Go to Hana-san or something."

"I see, I see, you're even addressing her with a respectful suffix," Itachi said, letting go of his brother. "Do you really want me to leave?" His lips formed a false pout. Sasuke glared at him and answered with a firm, 'Yes.'

The type of grin Itachi showed next was the type that says, 'I'm so not going even if you're telling me to.'

The type of scowl Sasuke showed next was the type that says, 'Get the fuck away from me.' This was a combo with the Uchiha death glare.

The type of widened eyes Naruto showed next was the type that says, 'What the hell? Is there incest going on?'

"No, Naruto, none of that," Itachi said, surprising Naruto just a _little_ bit. Or maybe it was a lot.

"Um...what?" Tenten exclaimed, not understanding, like the rest, a thing that Itachi was saying to Naruto.

"Oh, you don't need to know," Itachi said, sitting down next to the dozing Sakura. "Well, you wanna here about the mission?" Sasuke nudged Sakura, causing her to wake up and accidentally smack Itachi in the face. When she realized she was in between _two_ Uchihas and not just next to one, she turned to Itachi and apologized at a rather rapid rate.

"I'm sorry, so, so, so, so, _so_ sorry," she said, holding her hands up rather defensively. Itachi groaned but he managed to grin slightly.

"I come to tell you about your mission, and you hit me? Tsk, tsk, tsk, have you no manners, imouto-chan?" Itachi said teasingly, patting her head in a manner not unlike Sasuke. Sakura flushed from anger.

"I AM I _NOT _AN UCHIHA!!! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL ME 'LITTLE SISTER'!!" she yelled, punching Itachi hard in the face, causing him to fly to the other side of the room.

-Beep-

--------------------------------Intermission – Sakura apologizes for any inconveniences she might have caused.

"Humph, Itachi-san, you shouldn't underestimate me," Sakura said as she healed Itachi. He laughed nervously as he watched his younger brother shake his head at him in shame.

"Gomen nasai, Sakura," he said, giving her a small grin as the girl wiped a drop of sweat off her delicate eyebrow. He stood up and dusted himself off. "Now, for the mission explanation that I was supposed to tell you two about, but I suppose the others want to here this as well.

"Sakura, Sasuke, you guys have been assigned to go spy on a possible hideout of Orochimaru's. It is believed to have been used before—we're not exactly sure if he's still there. Chances are that he didn't move to far—it is said by others that have gone to that area that they still see some recognizable agents that work for Orochimaru.

"Basically, your job is to go around that area and possibly find some Sound agents. By the way, Sound is Orochimaru's organization. Truth to be told, Sound used to be one of the branches of Konoha. However, the commander, Orochimaru, turned on us. The main headquarters of Konoha, of course, was originally placed in Japan. Sound was placed in Venice.

"The downfall of Konoha was actually Orochimaru's fault. The fourth leader had died on a mission unexpectedly, and the retired third was forced to take over again. There was no acceptable replacement found. Then, Orochimaru killed him. Tsunade-sama was actually hard to track down. It took the agents _years_ to get to Tsunade-sama. They had to go all the way to England.

"Anyway, back to your mission, find some Sound agents and try to bring them back here so Ino and Ibiki can interrogate them. If you can't successfully bring them back, make sure not to leave them there and at least leave them unconscious. Do _not_ run back to headquarters. We don't want to lead them here. That would cause disaster. Understood?" Itachi finished, eyebrow raised in question. The two teenage agents nodded their heads in a determined manner. He handed them a map.

"The 'x' mark should show where it is," he explained.

"Question," Sakura said after a few moments, "What would happen if we can't defeat them? What if we were...captured?"

"You'll have communicators. Also, Hinata and Midori will be tracking you as well. So, no worries...hopefully."

"Also, how are we going to recognize the Sound agents?" Sakura asked. Itachi grinned.

"Remember the simulations you all had to go through for the first part of training. I have no doubt Tsunade-sama trained you after that but I'm sure you remember the faces of the people you fought," Itachi explained.

"Aw!! That's _such_ an awesome mission. I am _totally_ going on the next cool mission!" Naruto declared, pointing accusingly at Sasuke. "_Way_ better than your mission!"

"Yep," Sakura said sarcastically, "We'll see when it happens." She stood up and gave him an infuriating smile.

"HEY, SAKURA-CHAN, YOU'RE RUBBING IT IN AGAIN!" Naruto yelled as Sasuke and Sakura walked out of the cafeteria to begin their mission. Sakura ignored the screams and cries of Naruto.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled before they exited. The raven-haired boy turned around to see his ramen-loving best friend. "Don't let that pedophile get ya!" Sasuke gave an amused smirk and a slight nod before turning back around. There was the clanking of the benches legs on the dully tiled floor.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. 'How hard is this going to be?'

"_Expect anything from Orochimaru. Jiraiya and I are probably the only living people that were close enough to figure out his twisted mind. Sakura, be careful."_

* * *

"Orochimaru-sama, it seems Tsunade has sent somebody to come," Kabuto said, pushing his flashing glasses up with a grin on his face, "and it's actually Sasuke-kun with Sakura-san, a high medic there and Sasuke-kun's close partner." 

Orochimaru smiled maniacally, licking his lips in a disturbing manner. "Perfect. We might be able to use that girl sooner or later," he sneered, golden eyes glowing with joy. "Sakura-san...but I thought they were rather recent agents. How did she rise to be a high medic."

"She is second," Kabuto explained, "only to Tsunade." The snake sannin's eyes widened slightly in wonder before they returned to their normal state.

"Excellent. We might even keep her," he said. "A two in one prize, don't you think? I trust that you can help Sakura-chan push her medical skills even further."

"Hai," Kabuto answered. "I'll send Dosu, Kin, and Zaku out immediately, Orochimaru-sama."

* * *

"Sasuke-kun, can you find anything? I know we'll be able to recognize the people we fought vaguely, but what about the ones that we don't know?" Sakura asked her longtime companion. 

Sasuke shrugged. "Make a right here," he ordered after glancing at the map. They turned and met a dark alleyway. The only sound was the melting snow dripping from the side of some rooftops and the soft clicking sounds of their shoes against the hard floor. Everything echoed from all around.

"Yare, yare, they finally came," a smooth, feminine voice said. A quick swooshing was heard momentarily. "Orochimaru-sama sent us out too early. If he was so free, why didn't he come himself?"

"Urusai, Kin," a muffled voice scolded. "Do not speak about Orochimaru-sama like that. You should have more respect."

"For a wacko man that killed my parents, leaving me nowhere to go to except him?!" the voice named 'Kin' spat. Sakura and Sasuke had already stopped in their tracks as the argument went on.

"There are three other people here, besides us," Sakura whispered. "I'm sure you can sense the last one's chakra." Sasuke nodded.

"Are these really Sound agents, or are they just trying to trick us?" Sasuke replied in a hushed voice, a line of amusement in his voice. Sakura stifled a giggle. She'd want to make their presence unknown.

"Ne," she murmured after a few moments, "Weren't these the low-level ones?" Sasuke nodded, smirking slightly. "Dosu, Zaku, and Kin."

"You have no right to tell me such things!" Kin yelled, her high-pitched voice echoing throughout the otherwise rather silent alleyway. "You don't know what happened! _You_ should shut up! Moron!"

"Dosu. Kin. The enemy is still here," a third voice interjected, presumably Zaku. "I don't think you should let your guards down like that. These people have already been merciful, not attacking when they had the chance."

"How unprofessional of you three," Sasuke sneered, turning his Sharingan on.

"We have no intention of harming you," Sakura said, making sure to take out a kunai, "but if we have to, we will. Will you come with us to be interrogated?"

"Tch," Kin growled. "Like hell we would." Sakura gave an eerie smile, which looked even more sinister in the lighting and setting.

"Wonderful," she said sweetly yet sarcastically. "Some blood must be shed. I was hoping this would be rather peaceful, but I guess not."

"Who takes who?" Sasuke muttered under his breath. Sakura shrugged. He sighed in response. "Just go."

Kunai were already raining down on them. "Sakura, move!"

"I know, I'm not stupid!" Sakura said, avoiding all the falling kunai. Just then, she saw one aimed at her heart, which she easily deflected. Her quick eyes glanced around at their surroundings.

'I wish _I_ had the Sharingan. But I don't. I even said I wasn't an Uchiha.'

"Why would such a pretty face have to get hurt?" two voices purred simultaneously. Sakura knew one of them was Zaku, who was right in front of her, cupping her chin while Kin was stroking Sasuke's cheek. She grimaced at the sight, yet she almost laughed hysterically. It seemed as though Dosu was trying hard not to sweat drop.

"No messin' around here," he ordered. "Get straight to the point."

"Gladly," Sakura hissed, punching the ground and jumping, motioning to Sasuke to dodge her attack. They landed on the rooftop and began to bombard the three with several kunai.

'If only Tenten was here...she'd love this,' Sakura thought absentmindedly as she continued to shower her opponents with kunai.

"This isn't gonna work," she heard Sasuke say. "We have to get down there." They jumped down only to meet immense pain in their ears. Dosu was grinning under the white cloth.

"Gotcha." Sakura took a kunai and flicked it towards Dosu's arm, the source of the pain. Dosu almost laughed.

"Silly girl, you can't br—" He stopped as he watched his metal attachment stop working. "H-how?" the three said as the two newly recruited Konoha agents stood up.

"Simple," Sakura said, grinning widely. "I infused that kunai with an enormous amount of chakra to possibly clog the holes, though I do believe watching Kakashi-sensei or Sasuke-kun hit it with Chidori would have been far more entertaining. After all, metal _is_ an electricity conductor."

Zaku released air pressure from his hands. "I bet you've never seen this!" he exclaimed. Sakura smirked.

"No, I have, believe me," she said. Sasuke showed an identical smirk, just a little bit more twisted, with red eyes and all.

"Not hard to defeat," Sasuke said. "I'll take this one." He quickly jumped up into the air where Zaku was and did hand signs. He successfully executed his fire jutsu before jumping down and tying the two male Sound agents to a lamp pole with metal string.

Kin was already fighting Sakura, who obviously had the upper hand. Sakura was easily hitting Kin with chakra-infused punches, which the female Sound agent was desperately trying to dodge. Sasuke pulled the string tightly to make sure the prisoners wouldn't escape as he watched the ongoing match. He knew that Sakura would get pissed if he interfered, so he stayed where he was.

Finally, Kin was knocked to the ground, small amounts of blood coming from scratches with a trickle from the corner of her lips. Apparently, Sakura had a few injuries of her own.

'How did she even managed to hit me like that?' Sakura said, getting up and carrying Kin bridal style. She grinned cheekily at Sasuke.

"You...get the other two," she exclaimed, making sure to put Kin in sleep mode.

"Kin!" Zaku exclaimed as he watched his teammate go unconscious. Dosu narrowed his eyes slightly.

'They're definitely not just working together for Orochimaru-sama. Something's up,' he thought as he watched the astonished face of his teammate.

Sakura did the same technique to the other two Sound agents, who were, indeed, carried by Sasuke.

"Why'd you put them to sleep?" Sasuke asked as he dragged the two bodies.

"Well," Sakura answered, "we don't want them to see how to get there, do we?"

* * *

"Kin, Dosu, Zaku, what exactly is Orochimaru planning to do?" Ino asked sternly. Everyone was gathered inside the barren interrogation room, seeing what the captured agents had to say. 

"We…" Dosu answered. "Don't know. We really don't. Orochimaru never told us anything specific—he just sent us on tasks to 'help' him."

"Do you have even a _vague_ idea?" Ino asked.

"We know his motives are to capture Uchiha Sasuke, and possibly Haruno Sakura as well," Zaku revealed. Tsunade's eyes widened, "but he didn't seem to interested in the pink-haired lady." Both Ino and Tsunade inwardly sighed in relief.

"Alright. I really don't think that we will get much out of these three," Ibiki said, interfering with the interrogation.

"Actually," Kin said. "We _do_ know one more thing that might help. Kabuto...his loyalty to Orochimaru is...questionable." Many people in the room gasped, which Kin ignored. She continued. "Kabuto was definitely close to Orochimaru, almost like a deputy. But, we have our suspicions. He might have a motive...an unknown motive, for joining Orochimaru."

Tsunade took the information in and nodded. "Thank you for your time," she said calmly. "Midori, please escort them to their cellar. They'll be staying here for a while."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," Midori said, bowing before taking the three out to the hall.

"In this case," Tsunade said, glancing at her green-eyed pupil. "Sakura may be in danger as well. It's not just Sasuke now. However, why would he want Sakura? And what was that about Kabuto not being trustworthy to Orochimaru? I've seen him following my former teammate for a while."

"I don't know, Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya said seriously. "Those Sound brats looked like they were telling the truth. And I'm guessing Orochimaru heard about Sakura's medical skills—maybe that's why he wants her. Maybe Orochimaru is even suspicious of Kabuto. He always went by the you-can't-trust-anyone-but-yourself theory. _Always_. No exceptions."

Tsunade nodded, deep in thought. "In that case, I suppose we can't let too much danger come of this."

"Will Sakura-chan be targeted often?" Hinata asked in a worried way. "What should we do then? What if the three had trackers on them? Orochimaru could easily find us."

Tsunade shook her head. "They don't—we checked from a few blocks away. Orochimaru probably though they could take care of the two," she said, her two blonde pigtails swishing as she left the room.

* * *

When Sakura went to check on the three Sound agents, she nearly screamed. She stopped herself, however, and kneeled down in the cellar. 

Inside, the three agents laying dead. Kin was in Zaku's arms, which were hovering protectively above her. Blood was splattered on the floor.

"Get some specialists down here!" Sakura yelled, ordering lower medics to get somebody to analyze the blood type and so on. They needed to find a way that would prove that, perhaps, these people didn't commit suicide.

At least Sakura knew that Zaku and Kin didn't kill themselves. It didn't seem plausible. Especially since Zaku was trying to _protect_ Kin. That didn't make sense.

But what about Dosu? Did _he_ kill them? It seemed possible, since the wound inflicted on him seemed possible to inflict on oneself.

"Sakura-san, wha—oh…What happened?" a medic said when they came to the scene. Sakura scowled.

"You think I'd get you to run tests otherwise?!" Sakura snapped. The medic frowned slightly and muttered a quick apology. "Quickly, collect some samples of the blood on the floor and that of the victims. Make sure to test which blood type it is. We need to know if this is suicide or not."

* * *

A/N: Okay, finished. I _really_ have nothing to say. Well, hope you enjoyed. Ja ne. 

Kikoru x3


	8. Investigation, Information, & Revelation

From Orphans to Thieves

From Orphans to Thieves

_**Chapter **__**8: **_Investigation, Information, and Revelation

By -bell.esque

**Disclaimer: **I do _not _own Naruto or any of its characters. I don't own The Thief Lord either.

* * *

"Regular speech"

'Thoughts'

'_Sounds'_

"**Inner thoughts"**

* * *

A/N: Excuse me for the late chapter. Um, please excuse me for all late chapters that I might have. AND THIS ONE! ZOMG THIS IS SO, SO, SO, SO LATE!

Well, don't wanna take up too much, though I usually do. Also, I made up the three Sound agents, Dosu, Zaku, and Kin's, blood types, since I could not find the actual ones! I also appreciate all the guesses you had in your reviews, but we'll see what happened!

Again, I'm so, so, _so_ sincerely sorry for this late update! A little bit of writer's block for me (which is _such_ an understatement—you guys don't even _know_). And thanks! I think a lot of you are enjoying this story. :)

I'm saying this right now, though, that I haven't had much time to update recently. School has been really, really, really busy, and it's about to start up soon again. I'm really, really sorry. Most of you have sort of abandoned me already (like you should _all_ have done a long time ago), but I guess I'll still keep writing. I'll try my best.

Also, warning for those who haven't read my recent writing: My writing style has definitely changed over the months. If it starts sounding awkward, blame it on that. If not, I guess that's good. :3

* * *

_Recap_

When Sakura went to check on the three Sound agents, she nearly screamed. She stopped herself, however, and kneeled down in the cellar.

Inside, the three agents laying dead. Kin was in Zaku's arms, which were hovering protectively above her. Blood was splattered on the floor.

"Get some specialists down here!" Sakura yelled, ordering lower medics to get somebody to analyze the blood type and so on. They needed to find a way that would prove that, perhaps, these people didn't commit suicide.

At least Sakura knew that Zaku and Kin didn't kill themselves. It didn't seem plausible. Especially since Zaku was trying to _protect_ Kin. That didn't make sense.

But what about Dosu? Did _he_ kill them? It seemed possible, since the wound inflicted on him seemed possible to inflict on oneself.

"Sakura-san, wha—oh…What happened?" a medic said when they came to the scene. Sakura scowled.

"You think I'd get you to run tests otherwise?!" Sakura snapped. The medic frowned slightly and muttered a quick apology. "Quickly, collect some samples of the blood on the floor and that of the victims. Make sure to test which blood type it is. We need to know if this is suicide or not."

_End recap_

* * *

"Sakura-san, we got the files with the information we have gathered about the three Sound agents!" a medic cried when he ran into the room where the killing was committed. Only a few lines and splatters of blood were on the floor, still wet and crimson.

Sakura grabbed the stack of beige files and began to use two fingers to open them. She got up from her crouching position. She nodded her head slightly.

The medic was making his way to the door when Sakura stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder. "Please get some people in the organization to measure the angle and diameter of these spatters. They do not have to be from the medical team—anyone would do, as long as they are accurate," she said before taking her hand off the medics shoulder. He responded by dashing swiftly out of the room to find somebody. The rosette haired girl could hear his orders echoing throughout the whole area.

The clanking of high heels were coming at a rapid rate. Small oinking noises were heard as a slower and more timid shuffling of heels accompanied the first. Emerald eyes flickered to the cell's doorway before meeting amber. Sakura turned fully to the two people and the small piglet.

"Tsunade-shishou," she said calmly, acknowledging her blonde mentor, "you have probably already heard about this, and you are seeing the scene now, but the Sound agents have all died. The guards assured me that before they left, they locked all the doors correctly, however, they were still killed." Sakura motioned to the three pale, cold bodies behind her.

"Dosu-san was slit about his abdomen, however, Zaku and Kin were both cut at their throats. Kin had no weapons, and neither did Dosu. They both left them at the area we battled in. Zaku had all weapons confiscated upon arrived. No weapons have been found in the cell yet, but it could very well be that there is one. Also, Tsunade-sama, is Dosu a Japanese boy?"

"...Yes, I believe he was with Orochimaru even when he was in Japan," Tsunade answered. "...His name is definitely Japanese, but for all we know, it could've just been a name that Orochimaru gave him after joining his group of Sound, don't you think? You must consider everything, Sakura...Yet, why did you want to know this information?"

"I am aware that," Sakura began, "Dosu is no Japanese samurai...but perhaps he might have the same policy of honor as one? Yes, he does not have a sword of any sort, nor any weapon that we know of...However, I - "

"You think that Dosu might've committed suicide," Tsunade finished. Sakura paused and nodded firmly, lips in a tight line. Tsunade furrowed her eyebrows and tapped her feet on the ground, once again allowing the hollow sound to echo through the empty corridor.

"This is clearly possible," Tsunade said, after taking a skeptical glance between the three corpses and her new pupil, "it _does_ seem a little bit like it, but Dosu has no weap—"

"Excuse me, Tsunade-shishou, but that is incorrect," Sakura said. She pointed at Dosu's arm, though she was careful put some room in between them. The metal encasement was still there. "I believe that this is his weapon."

"...I just overlooked that," Tsunade admitted, raising her eyebrows at the presented observation. Things were beginning to piece together, "I suppose that is possible. Shizune, please get some people to move these bodies so somebody may examine them. The way they died. It isn't too bloody. Seems like it was mostly internal bleeding."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," the dark haired woman replied obediently, carrying the red-coated pig away with her as she went to get some specialists.

Another medic ran in the replace her, handing some files to Sakura quickly. Said woman raised an eyebrow, before the medic gave a small explanation about how the files contained the diameter, some pictures of the scene, and lastly the tested blood.

"We didn't have enough time to do DNA testing yet," the medic commented in an apologetic tone.

"We don't need to yet," Sakura replied curtly, taking out some papers and walking towards the older woman. "Grazie. You can go now." She waved a hand and motioned the man to leave before she began to discuss with Tsunade.

"Maybe we should go to my office," Tsunade offered, giving a sheepish grin, "Anyway, standing is tiring, and this is going to take a while. You want me to call any one in with us?"

Sakura nodded, giving her a small smile. "Yes. I'd like the Uchiha brothers, Kakashi, Ino, and Shikamaru in there," she requested. Tsunade nodded.

"I'll get somebody to fetch them."

As they walked down the hallway, Sakura snapped the files shut before grinning to herself, which caught her teacher's attention.

With a quirked up eyebrow and a devilish smile, Sakura asked the following question.

"Are you sure you're not just going there to get some sake to calm yourself? I'd prefer if you were sober while we discussed this."

* * *

Tsunade was later found in her crowded office, her head on her hand lazily, which was propped up by the elbow resting on her wooden desk. She was scowling very deeply, because her _apprentice_ wouldn't allow her to drink sake. Her _apprentice_. _She_ was supposed to control her _apprentice_, not the other way around.

"Glad you're all finally here," Sakura said, giving a glare at Kakashi. For once, his book was put away, and he was paying very close attention, which satisfied her to some extent. "Anyway, the blood we found in the cell matched that of Kin and Zaku, though it was only a little bit. It seemed that Dosu had no visible wounds, probably only internal bleeding. He was probably the one to kill them – he had the only weapon, that we didn't confiscate."

"So..._why_ are we here?" Shikamaru asked, obviously not wanting to be a part of this horribly confusing mess that the _Sound_ agents, mind you, got _them_ into. Sometimes, he just thought that Sakura was too curious, but he didn't omit the fact that, indeed, this information could be useful in the near future to help get Orochimaru and find a way to defeat him.

"Well, Ino is here because she was the one to help with interrogations, so she must know something. Kakashi is here because he is one of those more skilled and experienced. Sasuke is...well, the target," she gave him a small concerned glance before continuing, "Itachi's brigade is already in on this case. And lastly, Shikamaru, you're smart. Simply because of that, you are here, in this room, preparing to be lectured on what has happened."

Shikamaru gave another deep sigh, hating the way that Sakura had said that last statement in quite a sarcastic and matter-of-fact tone.

"Fine, forehead! Just get to the point!" Ino yelled, clearly as frustrated as everyone else. I mean, they were investigating _Sound's _business, that could possibly have nothing to do with them or give them a single clue.

"Please, just listen," Sakura said, sensing the impatience in everyone's aura, "Anyway, this really might lead us to Orochimaru. I don't see why Dosu would kill those two. He had no reason. They did not have any information, am I correct, Ino?"

Ino nodded quickly. "Yes. They like...really, had _nothing_. Like a clean slate. Completely blank," she replied, confirming Sakura's suspicions.

Sakura snapped her fingers. "Exactly. Nothing at all. Don't you find that a little bit strange?" Sakura reasoned, pacing around the small area of the room. "Don't you find it strange that they were able to still be as loyal to Orochimaru, yet still not know a single thing about his plans?"

Green eyes that reminded them of grass blades blowing in the wind darted around the room quickly, before Sakura cleared her throat once again.

"They know nothing, yet they've been there for so long," she said, her voice lowering slightly, threatening to become uneven. "I'm not trying to feel sympathetic, but they were just pawns. They didn't know a thing, no information. They were just used by Orochimaru. He didn't really care. So_ he_ could have killed them, right? They were useless at that point anyway."

"We have no evidence that Orochimaru killed them," Shikamaru pointed out.

"We can try to find evidence and look in the room for footprints and fingerprints of some sort."

"Wouldn't they already have been touched by others? What if we end up suspecting our own?"

"Then so be it," Tsunade decided finally, her voice coming out breathily. "They wouldn't be of any use to _us_ either. We'd probably just leave them there to die for a while."

"We might have been able to take them in," Kakashi drawled lazily, hard, dark eye looking at Tsunade. "It's not likely, seeing their background, but Konoha isn't exactly as powerful as it was before, Tsunade-sama."

"I'm aware of that," the blonde woman snapped irritably, flashing an almost hateful look to the younger man, "But consider that they are from Sound—they could betray us any time. And it seems as if they would, seeing that they've been loyal to Orochimaru for so long."

"But if we were to find that one of us killed the three Sound agents," Sakura mused out loud, "Would we take any action?"

Tsunade paused and pursed her lips tightly. "...It depends."

"On what, Tsunade-shishou? Couldn't these three have been killed by Orochimaru's agent that might have just happened to be in here?"

"Give me one reason why he would kill them," Tsunade shot back. The room was silent for a bit before Shikamaru spoke.

"Like Kakashi said, we might have taken them in and used them against him," he replied, "Of course, they seem to be three of the lower ranking ones, but still, we had the opportunity to take them and make them fight him at some point, or at least support the party that was against him. Their abilities aren't amazing, but they could have been useful to us. We could've trained them to be stronger. I don't think that Orochimaru would want Konoha to have more people joining us. It would be disadvantageous, even if they may be a little weak."

Tsunade growled and slammed her hands on her desk, almost making a crack. "Do you think that there is _anyone_," she hissed, "_anyone_, that would even _think_ of betraying us and killing them?"

"Maybe they don't think killing those three of as betrayal," Sasuke said, speaking for the first time in the discussion, "Maybe they think it's beneficial for us."

"He's right, Tsunade-sama," Kakashi said, nodding his head knowingly. "Wouldn't it be sensible to think that killing hostages from the other side would be good for Konoha? It doesn't give them any chance to escape and run away. If that happened, wouldn't it just take us back to before we captured them?"

The blonde woman still had a very stern look on her face, thinking deeply.

The logic made sense, but for some reason, it still seemed improbable for the situation to happen in Konoha. The yakuza was strictly structured and all were disciplined harshly in their early life, despite the somewhat free and uncaring demeanor most people held. They were trained to be good listeners, yet still commanding and fierce leaders if the opportunity ever came to them.

This situation, however, was not an order that was given out by Tsunade, who was currently in the highest position. Nobody would see this as an opportunity to start slaughtering Sound agents without order.

Surely, nobody would take this sort of drastic action to "protect" Konoha—to kill without the order to kill.

Tsunade was _pretty_ sure somebody was up to something. Somebody wasn't as loyal as everyone thought.

"I'm decided," she started. The air was silent and tense, eyes wandering to her solemn-looking face.

"Kakashi, announce that everyone must be interrogated. Ino, inform your mentor. Your department is going to be doing some thorough work."

"But—"

"No questions. Go and carry out my orders."

* * *

"Ugh, she's absolutely _crazy_!" Ino shrieked, pulling at her hair, "How does she _think_ that our unit can even get _through_ that many people—this whole _freaking_ yakuza!? We _can't_—"

"You _can_!" Sakura exclaimed, desperately trying to calm the blonde psychologist down, "Come on, Ino, you have this _amazing_ talent, and she _knows_ you can do it. Do you think that she _actually_ proposed this with—"

They walked down the corridors, listening to the echoes of quick footsteps and hushed voices, spreading the news about the inspection. Without a doubt, the two heard several groans and proclamations of disapproval. Some were tired and slightly afraid, because _what if they were wrongly accused_?

"Without _knowing_ our limits?" Ino's fierce voice boomed through the hallway, turning heads the way she does on the streets. "This plan is _ridiculous_, because we don't even _know_ if there _is_ a person in here that killed those Sound nins! And _why_ does it matter—those three had _no _information at all!"

Sakura stared at Ino sympathetically, understanding how stressed she could have been. The psychology and interrogation unit wasn't that large, and every person in it would probably have to work non-stop in order to get through all of Konoha's agents. Although the remaining in the believably-fallen yakuza were rather few, compared to the original size.

However, getting through every individual in Konoha was extremely hard for any unit, especially if they had to be examined thoroughly.

"I don't know, Ino," Sakura whispered, heaving a sigh and wishing that she could help, "I mean, when you think about it, you'll all be _exhausted_. You'll barely be able to stand."

"Ha, _exhausted_?" Ino laughed bitterly, voice throaty and airy, "That, forehead, is a complete _understatement_. I'll be half-_dead_ by the time the unit's done with the inspection."

They turned at a corner and pushed the cafeteria doors open. Ino stormed in, right through the kitchen door.

Sakura watched her demand for all the ice cream in the freezer.

"_Yes_, Chouji, I _do_ very much want all the ice cream in the freezer." Ino grabbed all that she could, and motioned for Sakura to do the same. The pink-head followed Ino into a small, (poorly) concealed corner of the cafeteria and placed all the ice cream down.

With cold, diligent, hard blue eyes, Ino locked Sakura into a staring contest.

"Share."

"But I just lost weight. I'm going to be _faaaaaat_."

"Would you feel better if I said you already were?"

"..."

"_Okay_ then! Dig in, forehead."

* * *

"You think this will work?" Kakashi's single, visible eye gave Tsunade a questioning look. It made Tsunade want to kill the man, strangle him, and ask him _why_ he still seemed so apathetic. _Why_ he was questioning her if he did not seem to care too much about the matter. _Why_ the hell people put _all_ their freaking _eyes_ on this "ridiculous, stupid, crazy, _completely insane_" plan.

Kakashi hummed a mute tune, pondering the plan further. Although he rarely doubted the fifth yakuza leader, her idea seemed slightly—maybe more than slightly—over-the-top. He nearly felt like questioning her sanity.

She cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter. "I'm sure, Kakashi," the blond woman replied in a soft voice, "I know you have doubts about this; even Ibichi is questioning me."

"Well, it's _his_ unit that has to do most of the work, so I wouldn't blame him for feeling doubtful. I'd feel the same."

"It seems you already feel that way," she replied, grunting slightly. She turned her chair to stare at the grainy looking, white-washed walls, rubbing her temples. Her eyebrows were kept furrowed in thought.

Honestly, all this talk was even making _her_ question her motives.

She breathed a heavy, tired sigh and brushed some hair away, staring at the painfully plain walls once again.

What did everyone expect her to do? Take no action? What would the Third have done? Perhaps she wasn't suited for this job at all.

Memories of peace in Konoha while the Third was in charge resurfaced. Tsunade felt a nostalgic warmth, and the happiness of being youthful and young. It almost hurt her to remember that the only reason she still had such beauty was because of treatment she had received years earlier.

The only thing that broke her out of her slightly pleasant reverie was the soft click of a closing door and almost inaudible footsteps in the hallway outside, the echo fading away before it was noiseless.

Tsunade wished desperately that she was a child again, so she would have the privilege of falling into the welcoming arms of her mother. So she could be enveloped in the warmth of the sunlight and the previously sweet aroma of honey that filled the air when her favorite pastry was being made. So she could remember and recall and _live_ the bliss that she had experienced as a child.

When she was a little girl of ten, she still had her own dreams. She wanted a Prince Charming, to live in a Land Far, Far Away, and a Fairytale Ending. All little girls did, she was sure, but in moments, she was tossed into this brutal world.

She had been convinced that her tears were only for those she had lost, but they were truly for the loss of a life that Could Have Been.

* * *

"I, um, oh my _God_..."

"Ino, I think I just died and went to heaven."

"It's okay, Sakura, you can exercise it _all_ off on missions."

"..."

"Yes! Wonderful idea, right? You'll just have to take more than normal."

"How much did you eat, pi—"

"Now, now, I don't think you want to be a hypocrite. I'd prefer 'Your Majesty' anyway."

Most people had already finished their meals, and there were only two occupied tables in the lonely cafeteria. Sakura flicked her wrist after sending another unforgiving glare at Ino, checking her watch for the time.

"Isn't it almost time for you to go? You know, do that whole—"

"Shut up! Don't remind me about that," Ino hissed, plopping herself on the bench. She lay her head on the table and closed her eyes. "I don't want to go. Ugh, it's going to be so painful. Even ice cream won't cure the pain! I love sleep."

"We all do, Ino," Sakura said, rubbing Ino's back in an attempt to be comforting, "But when we joined this thing, we committed ourselves to this group of people. I know the plan is kind of insane."

Ino lifted her head and gave Sakura a disbelieving look. "Kind of? _Kind of_?"

"Okay, _very _insane, but you still have to do it, Ino. I thought you were ready to face the consequences of this job. Every job has it's bad points, and I guess this is one of them."

"But this kind of operation isn't _normal_," Ino mumbled, sighing grumpily. "You really think that we can all work for so long? I thought that Tsunade was a doctor? Wouldn't she know? It will put _so_ much mental and physical strain on everyone. I don't know how she thinks we can do this. Even if the whole unit is working, it won't be efficient, because people will be passing out from exhaustion."

"Ino, I know it's really stressful, but try not to complain," Sakura replied, frowning slightly, "I'm sure everyone else will be stressed, too."

"No other unit is doing something ridiculous like this."

"Well what about those people that are out on missions?" Sakura argued, a bit of anger fueling her. "What about those people that might be dying? That _have_ to do that mission for the safety of everyone else?"

"There isn't anyone out!" Ino exclaimed, "And if there is, they were already interrogated before they left for their missions. Have you forgotten? Tsunade ordered a lock-down almost immediately after, and ordered anyone that was not on an urgent mission to get back as soon as possible. Tell me which other unit will be working."

"_Our_ unit."

"...Why?"

"Well, you guys need some people to take care of you. Although we won't have as much work, we still have some patients and people to heal. We have to make sure they are in an acceptable state to see your unit. And you said that people will be passing out, right? We have to take care of all those people. It's our job, Ino. People have to watch the rooms, too. We have to know when somebody passes out and if people attempt to escape. So there _are_ other people working. Even if some units don't have anything to do with this, they might have to wait or wake up from sleeping in order to see you guys. Some units are supposed to lend the psychology unit rooms, too, because even though they won't be as appropriate as the specially designed rooms for your unit, you all still need room for this operation. A lot of other projects have been halted for this one."

"It's just because Tsunade wants this to be done, I'm sure," Ino said, "I don't think it's really because she cares about it. She just wants this plan to go smoothly. It'll be easier for her if there were a minimal number of complications."

"But I care, and other people care about the unit you're in, too. So why don't you get going?"

She smiled a bit, glad to have such a kind, caring friend.

"Okay."

* * *

"Sakura-san, there's an emergency! We have to get to room 301 ASAP!"

"What, what's wrong?" Sakura replied, standing up straight and diverting her attention away from her patient.

"Somebody's collapsed, one of the psychologists. They aren't in good condition either. They seem to have a fever or something now, and they keep struggling to speak."

"Then what are you waiting for, _go_!"

Sakura rushed out of the room. She climbed a flight of stairs to get to the next room. It was relatively close by, as it should have been the room closest to the staircase she had taken. There was a crowd around a person who was apparently struggling, screaming in pain.

"Yamanaka, calm down, the medic's here."

"Ino?!" the pink-haired girl exclaimed, kneeling to take a look at her best friend. "What happened to you?!"

"I don't think it's an appropriate time to ask," somebody said, most likely another person from the psychology department, "She apparently just dealt with the double-agent. However, they seem to have escaped. Why don't you treat her now?"

Her green eyes looked over her friend writhing in pain on the floor, a hand covering her mouth and eyes closed in a silent prayer.

'How could this have happened to you, Ino? How could the double-agent have done _this_?'

* * *

**A/N**: Another apology for the ridiculously long wait for the chapter. My summer ended up being fairly busy as well, though my laziness (sorry!) has definitely contributed to this wait.

But hopefully, you'll still press that periwinkle-colored button for a **review**?


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